Forming an Alliance
by chickadeedeedee
Summary: (Another medieval au made by someone who has never studied anything medieval besides like the plague): Crystal understands that being a princess is all about responsibility. After all, she has the wight of a nation resting on her shoulders. However, Gold is not a princess, he's an idiot. -mangaquestshipping
1. Chapter 1

Crystal had decided that she had absolutely no room in her heart for a husband. She loved her family, her friends, her people, her kingdom, and her future children. She needed to be married, of course, but she decided that marrying for love was redundant because she simply didn't need anyone else to love. Her marriage would benefit those that she already loved, because no husband could come close to how much she loved them.

She wrote down the list: _family, friends, people, kingdom._ She put it in a locket, near her heart, so neither of them would forget who she really loved. Who she did it all for.

It was important to remember things like that in times of uncertainty. Johto was on the brink of war with Unova. Though both were traditionally peaceful kingdoms, there seemed to be a new power in Unova, they started calling themselves a Halidom and said that their king was chosen by the divine dragons and could communicate with all creation. They started denying entrance to johteans because they worshipped the ancient birds, Ho-oh and Lugia, and johteans living in Unova were thrown out.

It was only a matter of time before war was officially declared.

But, Johto was still a peaceful nation. It had been centuries since any war was brought to the land and they hadn't developed the military under of the assumption that war would never come again. So they were forced to strengthen their bonds with others, including the Highlands, a small, mountainous kingdom north of Johto. Despite being small, they were very technologically advanced and had a strong military that was used to protect the citizens from evil that hid deep in the snowy mountains.

The King of the Highlands had agreed to help with the oncoming war and ally themselves with Johto, for a small price. All they had to do was marry the johtean princess to one of the Highland King's sons.

Crystal's father agreed in a heartbeat, and Crystal was fine with marrying the prince. They were told what day he would arrive at Johto castle for the engagement ceremony, a tradition in Johto. He would stay until the wedding, and the Highland King would come down for the event and watch his son would become the future king of Johto.

Crystal had been dressed extravagantly for his arrival, and waited patiently all day.

The prince did not arrive.

The King said they would wait a couple days, because perhaps he had run into trouble and would be there as soon as he could. Crystal prayed to Ho-Oh that he didn't call off the wedding and go home.

At night, Crystal didn't usually go straight to sleep. She would light a candle, sit by the window, and drown out her worries by reading under the stars.

That night she looked outside and saw something, a light, a horse... a person approaching the castle door late at night. Crystal tried to get a better view. _Was it the prince?_ Sheknew she shouldn't go down to entrance, her servants would get the door and, if it was important enough, wake her father and mother. But she started to see lights turned on, and heard a commotion outside. She couldn't contain her curiosity anymore.

Pulling on a robe and slippers, Crystal rushed down stairs from her room. At the top of the stairs to the throne room, she saw her father was awake and the servants were rushing around.

And a boy.

He looked about her age and had messy black hair and golden eyes. He looked frazzled and rough around the edges, his clothes were torn and there was dirt on his face. But from the rough portraits she had seen and the descriptions she had read:

 _This was the prince._

He did look a bit different, but no artist was perfect. The portraits were probably just a little bit off.

A maid saw Crystal and ran up to her saying, "milady! You shouldn't be up at this hour! I know there is a lot going on but you must head back to you're room, you're still in you're night clothes for Ho-Oh's sake!"

Crystal allowed her self to be dragged back up to her room, but looking back, she could have sworn she made eye contact with him.

* * *

Crystal woke up early so her maids could dress her quicker and she could go down to breakfast.

The King and Queen rarely saw their daughter, it was usually only at breakfast and dinner and that wasn't always. At those meals they didn't talk much either, it was the curse of royal families.

But today, the King and Queen were actively engaged in conversation when Crystal arrived. And the boy from last night was at the table along with a boy with long red hair Crystal didn't recognize.

"Good morning Crystal!" Her father greeted. "I trust you slept well."

"I did, thank you father," she responded politely and sat down, butlers bringing food to her.

"Well I would like to introduce you to Prince Ethan Gold of the Highlands and his advisor, Silver. They arrived late last night," the King explained.

Crystal nodded formally at them. "It's a pleasure to meet you Prince Ethan and Silver."

"No, please. Just call me Gold! It's not my given name but more of a name I got over my life. I prefer it really." The Prince got up and walked to her, it was not an uncommon gesture to bow or shake hands with the royal family when they arrive. But instead he got down on a knee and kissed her hand.

"And the pleasure is all mine, Princess."

Crystal pressed her lips into a firm line, the flirty types did not sit well with her. As a queen she would have little, if any, control over the kingdom. Her kingdom! She didn't need the king to be a idiot.

Her father, the current king, stood up. "Well I'm afraid my wife and I have business to attend. Gold, there will be a ceremony and a party tonight to celebrate the engagement and I'd like to ask if you would be the guest of honor?"

"Of course, your highness."

"Good. In the mean time, make yourself at home in our castle. Perhaps, if she isn't busy, your bride could show you around," the King finished and smiled at Crystal before leaving. She looked back politely, but destained the idea.

"So how about it, Princess?" Gold smirked once the king had left. "Care to give me the royal tour?"

"Sorry, but I'm afraid my studies-"

"Aren't happening. The King mentioned you passed all of your tutoring lessons a while ago." Silver chimed in. He hadn't said anything so far and Crystal was shocked to hear his voice. She also wasn't used to being interrupted, especially by an employee, but she wasn't the type to lash out over things like this.

Instead she sighed, "I was going to spend the day doing independent studies, but if you insist..."

"I do insist! Maybe we could talk about what you're studying. I would love to know more about my fiancé," Gold urged.

Crystal realized she couldn't get out of this. Deciding she was done eating, Crystal stood up. "Fine, I will meet you in the entrance in half an hour."

"Why can't we start now? You're dressed and Silver and I are already here," he objected.

"Alright, follow me to the library." Crystal curtly turned and started walking. She heard Gold and Silver rushing to keep up with her.

She didn't engage much with them, despite what Gold said he didn't seem very interested in her. He barely shut up long enough for her to tell him where they were going. When Gold made a joke, she wouldn't laugh. Crystal just kept reminding herself that this was all business. Besides the wedding and having kids, she would rarely see him.

* * *

The ceremony happened that night, and to Crystal it just took up more of her time. After the tour she barely had a minute to herself before she was being prepped for the event.

It was an old tradition and every engaged couple in Johto did it, although being royalty always makes things more dramatic. Couples would where ceremonial clothes, stand in front of their friends and family, announce their engagement officially, and ask for Ho-Oh and Lugia's blessings. If they weren't meant to be together one was supposed to be struck dead, but Crystal hadn't heard of any cases like that in the last century. Provided they survived, there would be a party to celebrate the engagement.

It had to be done before you start making plans for the wedding because it was considered disrespectful to the Gods to not ask permission. The unspoken rule became a month before you wanted the wedding to take place or, in case of people who were betrothed since they were small, as soon as they were old enough to be married.

The ceremony was fine, Crystal was a beautiful silver dress to signify Lugia, and Gold wore a rainbow robe to signify Ho-Oh. Neither of them died.

Crystal thought the party was boring as well. She loved dancing, but Gold kept stepping on her toes to the point where she thought it was on purpose. She danced with others as well, her dad, family, friends, etc. And she spent all night thanking people for coming and being congratulated.

She went to bed late, exhausted and needing to be alone.

 _There's always tomorrow,_ she reminded herself. She could be alone tomorrow.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 28

 **Note:** this is only going to get more cheesy and corny and less based on any sort of fact. Next chapter on Friday :)


	2. Chapter 2

"Good morning Princess, I didn't see you at breakfast today. Are you alright?" Gold sauntered up behind Crystal, almost startling her, taking a seat on the other side of the table Crystal was studying at.

"I ate in here. I was catching up on my studies because of the time I missed yesterday. But thank you for your concern," she snapped. She tried to sound polite, but it was hard when he interrupted her like this. Especially since he was the reason she didn't have time to herself yesterday.

"It's odd that your father lets you study so much," Gold pondered, resting his head in his hands. "What does he think you'll do with it?"

Crystal's grip on her pen tightened, but she stopped herself before it snapped, she didn't want ink to ruin another gown. She opted not to reply, lest she say something rude.

"There's no need to be so serious, Princess," Gold chided. "You don't want to put wrinkles on that pretty face of yours."

She wanted to punch him- no- knee him in the crotch. She knew, she had always known that when she got married she would just a trophy. A beautiful woman to have beautiful children with and parade around at social events. But hearing it spoken aloud by the one that would condemn her? It was infuriating.

"Maybe you'd be happier if we went out for a bit. Got you something sparkly?"

"Do you even know what you're doing? How the economy works here? I don't know about you, but I don't just spend the royal money so willy nilly! Because that money is supposed to go towards our people and paying our staff and such!" Crystal exploded.

Everything paused.

She gasped internally at what she had just done. She lashed out, and at a prince no less! It was unbelievably uncouth for a lady to do that, especially a princess. She should apologize, he hadn't really done anything wrong, but she was tired and annoyed and just wanted to be left alone!

But Gold just rolled his eyes, uninterested. "Whatever, I guess I'll leave you alone, Princess of all that is boring."

Crystal gawked as he left. _What kind of royalty talks like that?_

* * *

She took a walk in garden to clear her head after all that had transpired with Gold. She loved looking at the flowers, seeing how they were different everyday. Her favorite spot was a beautiful, hand sculpted bench under the sky. She would come out there on warm nights and watch the stars and blooming moon flowers.

Hearing voices near the bench, Crystal stopped approaching and ducked behind a tree.

"You are magnificent, meeting you almost makes up for why I had to come here."

She recognized that voice.

She looked over, careful to not be seen, and glared. Gold and some giggling town girl were sitting on together. Gold cupped her cheek, and when she thought he was leaning in, Crystal turned around and left.

* * *

 _Perfect_. She really didn't care that she wouldn't love her husband, it didn't matter to her. But actively hating him was something else. Something she didn't want, but wasn't really her choice.

Of course it was common for kings to have mistresses and concubines, but did he have to start before he was even king? Before they were even married? Was she really so horrid that he simply _had_ to take other girls to forget that they were engaged?

Crystal huffed, she had been pacing in her room, trying to mentally sort stuff out. But she was still frustrated. She'll go down to the garden again and if she sees him with another girl? She'll slap him. That should work out all her frustrations.

At the garden, one familiar face was waiting alone.

"Good afternoon Princess! I was hoping to see you." Gold ginned.

"Are you sure? Perhaps I should call a handmaid for you to 'chat' with instead," she argued.

Gold looked taken back for a moment, but his face changed to acceptance too soon, a smug acceptance.

"Alright, you caught me. I'm not the best at being faithful, never have been, and a woman with integrity such as yours will probably want to call this off-"

"Why? So you can go back to traveling, flirting, partying, or doing whatever you want? Ha!" She interrupted. "I have a duty to marry you. And there is nothing you can do to change my mind."

"But you don't like me! Not even a bit!"

"Would you stop being so selfish! Sometimes not everything is about you, my entire kingdom could go to war any day now. To keep my people safe, I need to marry you, so I will." Crystal stuck her nose up in the air and looked up at the trees, she didn't want to face him.

"I'll be a terrible father."

"You'll rarely see our kids."

"I'll treat you badly."

"You'll rarely see me."

"What can I say to make you call this off?" Gold implored.

"Nothing."

Crystal looked back and saw that he had moved closer to her, "mark my words, princess Crystal. I'll get you to call this off."

"Go ahead and try," She challenged.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 27


	3. Chapter 3

The smell of death leaked through the walls and infected the night air around Crystal. It was still dark outside. So dark, Crystal couldn't make out what time it was on her clock. She could only make out enough of her bed to scramble out and rush to her bedroom door.

She didn't dare light a candle, for fear that the sudden, pungent, horrid smell that awoke her in the middle of the night was gas.

When the door wouldn't open, she heard small giggles on the other side.

Crystal kicked the door as hard so hard it made her foot throb. "Gold! Open the door this instant!" She yelled.

Gold responded in a overly dramatic pompous accent, "what hast thought sayth, your majesty? Open thine chambers?"

"Gold, stop this right now!" Crystal pressed her body against the door as hard as she could and pushed. She saw the door open, just a crack and just for a second, but she knew she could push past him.

"Stop what, Princess of the kingdom of serious?"

"The smell! And the door!"

"Oh that! Alright!" Gold bolted away from the door and sent Crystal falling onto the hallway floor. She saw him running away, laughing and carrying something. Crystal let her head hit the floor and groaned. He was trying to break her.

 _Why was it so hard to do the right thing?_

* * *

Crystal needed to be alone. She needed to be alone somewhere quiet and serene. After the smell incident, she still didn't know what he used to make it, she couldn't go back to sleep.

So she headed out to the garden to watch the sunrise and smell her pretty flowers.

She groaned and almost turned around when she heard _his_ voice coming from her favorite spot again.

"She loves me. She love me not. She loves me. She loves me not..."

Gold was sitting there. On her bench. With one of her favorite flowers. Picking off all the petals! And from the stack of stems next to him, he planned on destroying all her favorite flowers.

Crystal stormed over and ripped the flower from his hands. "She loves you not, she loves you not, she loves you not. She hates you!" Crystal yelled at him.

"Actually there's a petal left, so she she loves me," Gold smirked.

Crystal stomped her foot and through her arms in the air. She had never felt this frustrated and angry. She had to walk out before she did something she would regret, like calling off the wedding.

Crystal didn't leave without slapping him as hard as she could, and she knew eventually she'd regret it because she hated violence. But at least she didn't do anything she really wanted to before walking away.

* * *

She took a nap to calm down. Her room still smelled so she slept in one of the guest rooms without telling anyone. She left after a maid came in and panicked because she thought there was bandit living in room. Crystal managed to calm her down, but decided to not attempt that again.

She presumed that Gold probably wouldn't go into the library, he didn't seem like a reader. So that place was probably safe. But just to be safe, when she arrived, she walked around, checking every corner for a sign of him. When she saw nothing, she settled down.

Her mind first went to studying, but her eyes were still tired and maybe reading something for fun, perhaps poetry or a novel, would make her feel better. But as she reached for a book, Gold's words echoed in her mind. About how she didn't need to educated, and what was the point.

She clenched her fists and hardened her jaw. Crystal went back and grabbed a book in Latin on astronomy. It was hard to read, she was good at Latin but it certainly wasn't her favorite language. Nevertheless, she kept going, trying to learn as much as possible. She'd rather die then be some stupid, worthless princess who was just arm candy for some jerk.

Gold didn't bother her at all while she studied. In fact, she was so incredibly focused a maid had to tap her on the shoulder to get her attention and bring her down for dinner.

Crystal was surprised that Gold wasn't there, Silver was.

He stood up and bowed, "good evening Princess ."

"Good evening Silver. How was your day?"

"Tiresome," he answered. Silver was fascinating to her, he spoke so casually in front of her, a princess. And at breakfast the other day, he interrupted her! Some could consider that an act of treason. And despite being a 'royal advisor' he seemed more like Gold's best friend.

Crystal thought about that, having a best friend. The closest she had to that was when Yellow visited from Kanto, and that didn't happen very often. She always had her horse Mega, but that was different.

"What did you do today?" Crystal asked Silver.

"I... gathered information," Silver responded. Crystal had a feeling he was pulled into Gold's schemes. Silver was probably the one who told Gold that she didn't like bad smells, and she loved the chrysanthemums in the garden.

"How was your day, Princess?"

Crystal sighed deeply, "tiresome as well. I think I'll go straight to bed after this." She hesitated before asking another question, "is Prince Gold coming down for dinner?"

"No, he already ate and wanted to head out into town," Silver replied.

Crystal nodded and they ate in silence for a minute before Silver stood up. He bowed again, "good night," he concluded, and left the room.

Crystal ate lethargically for a few more minutes and decided that she didn't want to finish. Unfortunately, Crystal didn't get the option of going straight to bed, her maids forced her into a bath like every night, and dressed her for bed. Then she was finally alone to sleep.

Well not entirely alone, she still had to deal with the annoying company of her own thoughts. She wondered what Gold was doing and if tomorrow he would act the same. It was only 4 more weeks before the wedding, actually 3 weeks and 5 days after tonight.

Then after the wedding... the rest of her life.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 26


	4. Chapter 4

Crystal endured the next 5 days of torment form Gold. She hoped that he would give up when he saw that she would not be broken, but he was far more persistent than she expected. On Sunday, Crystal went to church, praying that Ho-Oh would give her the power to over come this and be happy. Because despite her promise that she would always be happy if she could help her kingdom, she had not expected Gold. Crystal always went to church on Sundays, but that day she spent hours there, praying.

When she left her knees were incredibly sore and she her throat felt dry from praying aloud. Despite having spent the day "sitting" but she still felt exhausted.

Gold was waiting outside Ho-Oh's temple.

"You're lucky I'm religious, I can't touch you in Ho-Oh's presence," he teased.

Crystal tried to just walk past him but he stuck by her side. "They say Ho-Oh is always watching. If you don't want them to see your actions, maybe try not doing them."

"Your words wound me," Gold joked dryly. "And why pray to Ho-Oh? Isn't Lugia more of a symbol of strength? Or were you going to ask Ho-Oh to resurrect your marriage possibilities after you kill this one?" Crystal suavely raised an eyebrow. "I'll admit, not my best wordplay, but my question stands."

"I don't need to tell you, I owe you less than nothing," Crystal stated directly. "But if you want to know, I was praying for happiness, so that I can find a way to enjoy this relationship."

"Perhaps if you ended it-"

"How don't you get it?" Crystal exclaimed. "You could murder my family and I would still go through with this. Because this marriage gives my people a chance at survival. I'm not a coward like you, I'm not just going to flee from the problem and let everyone else get hurt for me. I will move forward!"

Gold looked shocked and disappointed. He looked away from her and sighed.

"I saw you praying. Even doing something like that, something freeing and relaxing where Ho-Oh should take all your troubles away, you looked far too serious."

Crystal wasn't sure how to react. She just told him off, told him he was a coward and that she wasn't. And instead of defending himself, or admitting defeat, or doing anything remotely intelligent, he called her serious again.

Serious, straight-laced, boring, all work and no play, etc. _Why did her attitude toward life bother him so much?_ She was a princess, she was responsible like she should be. He was the one with the bad attitude, _just slack off and do what you want and things will eventually work out?_ This man was next in line to be king! He couldn't think like that anymore.

"You are an idiot." She turned her head away from him, not caring to see if he followed her or not, and started walking. Far away from him.

* * *

Crystal was doing more studying in the library. Ever since Gold 'accidentally' had his horse stomp all over her chrysanthemums, it was the only place where she felt he couldn't destroy anything. He did still come in to bother her at times, but he never touched the books.

"Hey Princesserious! See what I did there? Are you going to come down for dinner?" Gold shook her shoulders to make her loose focus and annoy her.

"No, I'll eat later. You go now, I insist," she answered bitterly.

"And what kind of fiancé would I be if I let my future bride eat alone? Here, I'll accompany you until dinner, what are you studying?"

Coming from anyone else this would be a kind, friendly gesture. From Gold it was annoying mockery. But maybe it was the fact that she spent so much time that morning praying or the fact he hadn't bothered her until then. But either way, Crystal was feeling compassionate and she indulged him.

"I'm researching the three divine beasts and their role in humanity."

"What role? I just thought it was fire dog, thunder dog, and water dog?"

"Gold!" Crystal reprimanded. "These are elemental gods chosen by Ho-Oh! Don't be so blasphemous!"

Gold held up his hands defensively, "excuse me then. So what's their role with us humans?"

Crystal bit her lip, "well besides being messengers for Ho-Oh, I'm still not sure."

Gold hooted and laughed. "Absolutely priceless! Now come on, clearly you're getting nowhere with this, so lets go to dinner." Gold picked up her hand and tired to guide her out of the chair.

Crystal stopped and saw an opportunity. "One condition," she began.

"Oh?"

"Tomorrow you spend an hour in here studying with me."

"...You're kidding, right?"

"Tomorrow, one hour, here," Crystal demanded.

A mischievous look painted itself onto Gold's face. "Fine, but I get a condition too."

"What is that?"

"You can teach me stuff, but you can't study yourself. You have to do something else."

Crystal frowned, "fine."

They went to dinner and ate in silence.

* * *

Crystal didn't see Gold until breakfast the next day, which was odd. She started to wonder what he was doing when he wasn't bothering her. During lunch Gold mostly ignored Crystal and talked with Silver. When he finished Crystal stood up abruptly.

"Gold, you agreed to study with me. Let's head down to the library and start."

"Right now?" Gold asked.

"Well we can't do it before lunch, now can we? Follow me."

He did, without much protest either. Perhaps she was finally rubbing off on him.

* * *

She wasn't.

Gold kept scribbling ink on the side of his paper instead of writing down notes.

"Take this seriously Gold! No matter what you want, we're getting married and you'll be the king someday. You ought to know how the kingdom works!" Crystal lectured.

"I know all about Johto! It's super close to the Highlands and we worship the same Gods. I already know the important parts of the history," he complained.

"Fine. You can move onto the economy-"

"That's even worse! Look, I know the major cities and trading ports, and once you call this off-"

"I'm not doing that," Crystal reminded him.

"Fine- if we get married, I'll be briefed on all this, so what's the point of studying now?"

"Because I don't want you to go into those meetings knowing nothing, because then you won't learn anything."

"I already know the basics-"

"How many languages do you speak?"

"Just the one," he shrugged.

"Perfect. You're going to learn Latin," Crystal smiled.

Gold's jaw dropped, "why? It's a dead language?"

"I know the Highlands were founded by people who broke off from Johto during the Holy War, so you don't read old Johtean scripture there, but you'll use it in religious ceremonies here. And it'll help when you learn French."

"Why do I need to know French?"

"It'll impress the Kalosian royalty."

"If you teach me French you know I'll only use it to seduce kalosian women."

"I don't care." Crystal pushed some hair behind her ear and got up. Gold didn't follow so she had to bring back a stack of Latin books herself. "Here, these are simple ones, for children, with lots of pictures. I want you to translate them. Page by page. And here's a Latin to English dictionary for when you don't understand a word."

Gold scowled and picked up a book on top. "Where's your assigned reading?"

"Hm?"

Gold's face brightened. "Don't tell me you forgot! Princess! I'll go get a good one for you!" He ran off into the isles.

Crystal sat shocked. She had forgotten that she agreed to not study. Gold seemed to have taken that as her reading novel or something. Another way to waste her time.

"Here you go, I've heard it's great." Gold had a smug look when he passed her the book. It wasn't very thick, it had a hard red cover with metallic, curly words and i's dotted with hearts.

"Wishful Nights?" Crystal read the title. "What's this even about?"

Gold smirked, "you'll just have to read it."

Crystal opened up the book and started on page one.

 _...I dreamt last night that he touched me, and made me feel like royalty. His perfect, soft lips against my-_

Her face bloomed red when she realized what kind of book he had brought her. She hadn't even finished the first 5 pages and it was already... Crystal was a princess! She was supposed to be a symbol of purity! She shouldn't even be holding something so risqué.

"I am not reading this," Crystal hissed.

"But Princess, you gave me your word. Are you about to become a lier? When we get married I intend on replacing an entire wall of the library with books like these."

"I said I wouldn't study. I never said I would read whatever you gave me. And where did you even find this? I've never seen this book in our library."

"It was right there. When was the last time you went into the fiction section?" Gold teased.

Crystal tensed, "just the other-" She stopped talking. No the other day she only thought about reading for fun. She read that one book about travelers- no that was a biography. When was she last time she read fiction? It had to be more recent than her early childhood.

"Wow, you really need to losen up. Whatever go find yourself a book. But I'll make sure it's fiction. Maybe try fantasy," Gold dismissed.

Crystal took his advice and tried reading a book about a boy who meets dragons. It was good and she felt her mind being swept away. Her and Gold sat in silence, the gentle lull of his pen on paper soothed Crystal and the experience was almost enjoyable. The first pleasant experience she had with him.

They both lost track of time, every once in a while Gold would tell her he finished translating a picture book. Crystal would check it, tell him what he did right and wrong, and he would start on the next while she went back to her book.

They weren't interrupted until Silver burst through the library door.

"There you are Gold. I've been looking for you for hours, you missed dinner."

Gold gaped and turned on Crystal, "what? This study session was only supposed to last an hour!"

"Don't look at me! I had stuff I wanted to do too! How could we lose track of time like this?"

"Whatever," Silver sighed. "Gold lets go. We need to talk tonight, remember?"

"Oh, yeah! I'm coming!" Gold practically ran out the door and Crystal was left shocked.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 20 days


	5. Chapter 5

**Note** : so, I originally had an upload schedule for this, but seeing as how my schedule has gotten super crazy, I'm just dumping it all at once. Besides, I'm mostly posting this so I can look back on it one day and see how I've improved, its not exactly my proudest work. At all.

* * *

The next morning was different. No smell of rotten garbage Gold had been leaving outside her door, no maids gently saying her name and opening her curtains. Instead there was just a light knocking on her door.

Crystal looked out the window, the sun had risen but she still saw traces of pink and orange in the sky, proving it to still be incredibly early. She slipped into her robe and slippers and opened her bedroom door.

"Yes?" She asked before registering who it was standing in front of her.

Gold.

"Good morning, sunshine. How'd you sleep?"

Crystal didn't answer, she was to busy flushing and stepping back. "Why are you here? You shouldn't be at my bedroom door, what if some one sees you?"

"What? You've never had a problem with me at your door before."

"Actually-"

"Not this problem, I mean," Gold corrected.

"Because it was always clear why you were here, to torment me! So unless you have a bucket of dirty water to throw on me, this is just asking for people to spread rumors," Crystal hissed. She didn't want to be covered in dirty water but to a bystander there is no reason he would be at her door so early and she would be in her nightgown unless they...

He had obviously been a bad influence on her innocent mind.

"Relax, Crys I just-

"Crys?" She interrupted.

"Yeah, it's a nickname. Like 'crystal,' 'crys.'"

"Oh." Crystal had never been called by a nickname before. She wasn't sure how she felt about it, was it really just a shortening of a name or was he using it to mock her?

"Anyway, I just wanted to know if around 11 o'clock you'd like to have a picnic with me in the garden?" He proposed suavely.

"Why? If you want to destroy more of my flowers-"

"No, I wanted you teach me more latin, particularly how to pronounce things."

"Because you want to impress women by speaking to them in a different language?"

"Basically, the best part is it doesn't matter what you teach me because they don't know what it means."

Crystal frowned, she didn't like that he so blatantly admitted to cheating on her before they were even married. Not that she cared for him, but he could have some shame. Although, she shouldn't pass up an opportunity to teach him something.

"Alright. I'll see you then."

* * *

The lesson and lunch went well, Gold could actually say a couple coherent sentences in Latin by the end.

At dinner Silver told Crystal that Gold went horse back riding, but she knew the truth. He was out in the city talking to girls and showing off his new skill.

"How did you and Gold become friends?" Crystal asked out of the blue.

Silver stayed expressionless as always. "I wouldn't call us friends, that's too informal, he's royalty and I'm not, so-"

"You two are friends, though. I'm not blind. How did you meet?"

"We... ran into each other... while traveling I believe," Silver explained with hesitation.

"Was it long ago?"

"Not really, but I don't remember it like it was yesterday if that's what your asking."

"Did you just hit it off and he hired you as an advisor? Or-"

"Absolutely not," Silver snorted, showing more emotion than she had ever seen on him. "No, in fact we didn't like each other at all. I had a bit of a... history. And Gold chased me around trying to arrest me for a while."

Crystal was shocked. She knew that Gold and Silver had an odd relationship, but becoming best friends with and hiring Silver after wanting him in jail?

"So how did you befriend each other?"

"We gained a common enemy. I only did what I had to to survive, but then a gang showed up and started terrorizing a town. Gold and I ran into each other while fighting them off and we worked together well. After just causally being together for a bit, we got to know each other and became friends."

"That's a nice story," Crystal smiled. "Gold must have been allowed to travel a lot for a prince."

"Um, yes he was. He always told his father it was business or diplomacy, but he lied, it was always for fun."

"You're very patient for putting up with him."

"I'm patient? Please just today I slapped him for saying something dumb. I'm not sure how you do it, Princess." Silver looked amused and Crystal giggled.

"You didn't really-"

"Oh, you bet I did." Silver's honest and dry tone made Crystal laugh again. Something about the thought of the calm, emotionless Silver losing his temper amused her to no end.

Her and Silver continued to talk for a bit, not just about Gold. He was a good listener and easy to open up too, but she avoided talking about feelings regarding Gold because she didn't want Silver to just turn around and tell him.

Crystal went to bed afterwards, a little bit happier and her heart feeling lighter. She read by candlelight until she realized she was reading another fiction book. _She hadn't studied all day!_

However... something inside her just didn't care. She would do it tomorrow.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 19


	6. Chapter 6

Crystal's streak of not studying carried on for 4 days. Unless you count teaching Gold Latin, because she didn't.

Gold became better everyday, he started peppering Latin into his speech at breakfast and lunch, never dinner. He hadn't been to dinner since she started teaching him Latin. But it didn't bother her, it gave her more chances to talk with Silver.

Crystal didn't usually get to talk with people who didn't come from noble birth, most of the staff were too intimated to speak casually with the royal family. But eventually, Silver started telling her about life as a commoner. Going where you want when you want, dressing yourself, having a job, it all sounded fascinating to Crystal. She asked him about things that happened in the books she read about commoners, if this would really happen or not. Her curiosity seemed to amuse him, and in exchange he asked her scholarly questions he hadn't found anyone to answer. They were weird questions, like the meaning of complex words and histories behind criminals and pirates and such. But Crystal answers him as best she could with no hesitation.

They were half way to the wedding and Gold was bothering her less and less, he wasn't exactly trying to be better to her, but he wasn't as actively being mean anymore. It wasn't much, but it was progress, and Crystal hoped that she might be able to make this marriage work.

Crystal walked briskly toward the garden with an even more complex Latin book for Gold. He was waiting for her, of course, but not like usual.

"What are you doing?" Crystal gasped, she nearly dropped the book when she saw Gold covered head to toe in dirt.

Gold beamed, "I thought we could skip the lesson today and do some gardening!"

"Why?"

"Because I bought flowers!"

Gold had a wheelbarrow full of potted flowers and fertilizer and some watering cans. Crystal wasn't sure how to answer, she had never even thought about bending down in the dirt, she was a princess.

"And why should I help? You were the one who destroyed my chrysanthemums, you should be the ones to replace them."

"Oh. That was the flower you liked. I forgot so I just bought pretty ones." Gold certainly didn't look apologetic, even though his words sounded like he should.

"What flowers did you buy?"

"I got some lavender bushes for here and here, because they smell nice and this looked like it needed something tall. And for there I got these!" Gold held up a pot with small blue flowers. "They're called baby blue eyes, or nemophila which is Latin for wood-loving."

Crystal pressed her lips together into a hard line and bit on the inside, a bad habit of hers. "They look nice, but we have gardeners for a reason."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of getting a little dirty."

"I am not 'afraid,'" Crystal snapped. "It's just not customary-"

"Screw all those traditions and unspoken rules! Come on and down here and plant flowers, unless you're scared we'll dig up a dead body," Gold challenged.

Crystal wasn't going to allow herself to be taunted into doing something, but a certain amount of curiosity tugged her toward the garden.

"I guess... I could try just this once. Since you went to the trouble of buying these," Crystal conceded. She slowly and hesitantly kneeled down next to him, carefully brushing off her skirt and touching the least amount of dirt possible.

"Come on, Crys, it's not going to bite," Gold joked and rubbed his hand in a muddy spot where he had just watered flowers.

Crystal made a disgusted face. "This is a nice dress, I don't to ruin- AH!" Crystal shrieked when a pile of mud came into contact with top.

Gold laughed so hard he fell over, Crystal, on the other hand, panicked and what trying to wipe the dirt off.

"I'm sure you have tons of other dresses, ruining one doesn't matter." Gold offered support when he managed to control himself.

"It matters to me!" Crystal protested desperately. "And now I'm all gross and wet and squishy and-"

She was cut off by Gold tackling her, forcing her back into the dirt and rolling over, laughing. When she freed herself from his disgusting embrace, she was covered in dirt.

"What have you done?" She shrieked.

Gold was laughing boisterously, but sensed enough urgency in Crystal's voice to answer. "I'm helping you out! You must become one with dirt in order to garden!"

Angry and frustrated, Crystal's mind went blank for a moment, a very un-Crystal-like thing, and then she did a very un-Crystal-like thing. She dumped the entire burlap sack of fertilizer on Gold. When he was effectively a mound of dirt in a vaguely human shape, it dawned on her, not only had she stooped to his level, and she wasted an entire bag of fertilizer doing it! She thought he was growing, but he was just back to tormenting her again and here she was playing right into it. Letting him control her emotions and make her hate him.

"G-Gold, I'm so- I mean are you-" she stammered, regretting everything.

"AAAHHH!" Gold cried out and pounced out of the dirt pile, tackling Crystal, knocking her over, and then- he shoved a handful of dirt into the collar of her dress. Crystal shrieked and shoved dirt into his mouth.

Gold sat up, spitting out wads of dirt. Once he got most of it out they just sat there for a moment, staring at each other. Both covered in dirt and mud. Gold spoke first.

"I could say you fight... dirt-y."

They both erupted into laughter, Crystal surprised herself because she was never the rebellious type, but something had just clicked. There was something freeing and possibly fun about fighting and rolling around in the dirt, being able to get mad and do dumb things without anyone caring.

"You would make an awful gardener," Crystal retorted.

"I was doing a fine job before you showed up!" Gold gestured to the flowers he planted, which mostly got toppled when they were messing around. He frowned. "Ok, maybe not the best, but I wouldn't be bad."

"We should get cleaned up."

"And leave all this undone? I might not have known you for long, but that certainly doesn't sound like you, Princess."

Crystal smiled slightly, perhaps she could stay in a soiled dress for a bit longer.

"Pass me the trowel."

They spent all day out there in the garden, it had been dark for a while before they went back inside. Crystal worked on straightening all the plants and supporting them so they wouldn't fall and grow crooked. Gold smoothed out the fertilizer Crystal had dumped on him until it was blended neatly into the flower bed. They finished planting and watering the flowers together, occasionally breaking into fits of laughter just thinking about it all.

By the time Crystal had something to eat, took a bath, and was in bed, she knew she didn't have long to sleep before the next day. But it seemed fine, she had gotten onto friendlier terms with Gold and after today, she was excited to see him again. She could even see him being her friend and she wanted to know more about him because the more she thought about it, the less she knew about his personal life. Despite her anticipation for the next day, Crystal was tired enough to let her mind drift into unconsciousness.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 15


	7. Chapter 7

Crystal hadn't been so excited for breakfast since the day Gold first showed up. She woke up early and was sashaying through the halls.

Gold wasn't in the dining room when she arrived. Crystal assumed he just slept in a bit and waited, had something to eat.

An hour later Gold still wasn't in the dining room and Crystal was getting bored. She told a butler to tell Gold to meet her in the library if he showed up. She read and studied, but it seemed so much more boring than before. So she picked up a fiction book, she had been reading far to many of those.

Crystal hadn't felt herself falling asleep until a she was woken up by a breathy whisper on her ear.

"I hope whatever activity that made you so tired was wholesome."

Crystal opened her eyes just a crack and saw Gold's grinning face in front of her. She pushed him away playfully and he rolled back from his crouching position and fell on his butt. Gold laughed and rubbed his rear slightly. When he wasn't laughing at her, Crystal noticed how much he laughed and it made her smile.

"So I heard you missed me at breakfast," Gold continued.

Crystal got up on her arm and nodded. "I wanted to ask you some questions."

"Like the best way to break the news that you're calling off the wedding?"

It had been a while since Gold had talked about that, Crystal almost thought he forgot.

But she rolled here eyes. "No, I wanted to ask some personal questions."

"Like what?" Gold sounded intrigued. "My love life?"

Crystal frowned. "I think the less I know about that the better. Tell me about your family."

Gold looked taken aback, his eyes went wide and he started fighting with a button on his shirt. "I'm not sure that's the best idea..." he murmured.

"Is it an unpleasant topic?"

"No, but- while what do know about my family already? I can try to build off that."

Crystal nodded, it was weird but she didn't want to make him uncomfortable. "I know your father is the King, your mother is the Queen, you have two older brothers who are already married, a brother who is just a month younger than you, from a different mother, who isn't married, and you have some other siblings I don't know about."

Gold looked down and nodded slowly. "I- um- had a lot of pets," he began.

"Really? I didn't think the Highlands supported many animals, with the cold and all."

"Well that's why I had to keep them as pets!" Gold seemed to have gained back some confidence, Crystal assumed he loved his animals more that his family. Which made sense, royal families don't spend much time together.

"We would bring them in from other places and I had many own little zoo. My best friend was my monkey named Aibo."

"A monkey?"

"He was very well behaved! We were together for years."

"Do you miss him? Are you going to try to have him brought over here?"

Gold paused for a minute, looking anxious, then back to normal. "N-no. I left him with a good friend. He'll be happy, I don't want to take him away from his home."

"So I'll assume you're good with animals."

"I've been told it's because I look like a monkey," he jested, even making some monkey noises until Crystal laughed.

"Can I ask about your siblings? I never had any so I'm just curious what it's like."

Gold smiled fondly. "It's fun. We played together and roughhoused, kinda like we did in the garden yesterday but all the time."

"Do they like animals too?"

"Oh yeah, my older brothers started the zoo thing, I just asked for a monkey."

"And your parents are the King and the Queen, right?"

"Yup! They're pretty cool. I looked up to them, they always seemed happy, in love..." Gold's sentence drifted dreamily. Crystal was confused, didn't the King have all sorts concubines? She shrugged it off though, asking might make Gold nervous again.

"Is that why you wanted to call off the wedding? So you could marry for love?"

Gold grinned. "Maybe. My parents have been pushing me to get married for a while, they think a wife will help me settle down. But they don't understand, you know? I like to travel and party because it's fun, I'll get married when I find someone more fun than that, because I don't want to feel stuck and unhappy when I get married. Marriage is supposed to be happy."

Crystal nodded, it was weird to hear things like that from Gold, usually royals understood their obligation to their kingdom, but if Gold was the third son, he probably never thought he would be a king so he could marry whoever he wanted.

"I understand why your brother isn't engaged, because he's the fourth son and born from a mistress, but usually a prince is engaged since birth, sometimes before. Why were you single?" Crystal asked.

"I could ask you the same thing."

Crystal sighed, "I was engaged before I was born. My father had a friend, a count, whose wife just had a son and My dad said that he would promise his first daughter to him. Not long after I was born, a girl, so we were supposed to get married at 18."

Gold was stunned and Crystal waited for him to articulate his thoughts. "What happened?" He questioned.

"He ran off with some seamstress he loved and denounced himself from the family." She responded casually, as if this thing happened all the time. "What about you?"

"Well..." Gold started to trail off again. "My parents didn't want that for me, I guess."

"But didn't your older brothers have arranged marriages?"

Gold bit his lip. "Yeah, b-but I'm the third child. A spare! They probably stopped caring." Gold looked flustered and worried. She thought he was lying about something, his story didn't make complete sense, but she wanted to get along with him. Maybe she wouldn't fall in love with him, but he could be fun to have as a friend, to talk to and laugh with.

Crystal yawned. "Tired today, aren't we?" Gold teased, happy to change the subject.

"Yeah, I was up late washing off all that dirt you put on me." Gold laughed, he did it so often it made Crystal wonder if she just didn't laugh enough.

"Maybe you should take a nap and continue interrogating me tomorrow? Maybe I could show you my skills with animals and we could go riding together. How does that sound?"

"That sounds fine." Crystal agreed happily. "How aren't you tired?"

"What? I'm exhausted! I could drop unconscious any minute now," Gold declared, dramatically laying down on the ground and making over the top sleeping noises.

She laughed. "Now that he's asleep, maybe I should dig my boot into his chest? See if I can stab him," she played along with him pretending to be asleep.

Gold opened one eye at her. "Or you could pick up my head and rest in your lap? Or on your bosom?"

"While I pluck your hairs out one my one."

"I told you I had a pet monkey. That's just a regular grooming session for me."

Crystal allowed herself the pleasure of laughing quietly again and moving to sit on the carpet with him.

"You know that napping with someone isn't very far from sleeping with them and that seems awfully risqué for a good little girl like you," Gold suggested.

"I'm not napping here," Crystal responded. When she sat down there she had brought a pillow and blanket from the couch. "I'm just trying to be nice without forcing you to move."

"Well now I'm disappointed. Here I thought you were ready to throw away the rules, just for me," Gold snickered. He assisted Crystal by moving his head up so she could place the pillow under it and squirmed happily when she put the blanket on him.

Crystal yawned again and stretched. "Have fun on the floor, I'll go sleep in a bed."

"You know, the floor is awfully comfortable." Gold closed both his eyes and reached for Crystal's hand. She wasn't entirely certain why she gave it to him, he wouldn't have been able to grab her without looking. His hand was surprising warm and soft. It was larger than hers, and his finger tips were calloused and his palm was rough, but in a soft way. Like his hands were as tired as he was. He didn't wear any rings, which was unusual for a prince. Most royalty, even Crystal who preferred things plainer and simpler, adorned themselves with beautiful jewelry, especially rings.

"How are your hands so warm? Do you light a match under them everyday?" She wondered.

Gold looked at her like a drowsy idiot. "It's because I'm so hot."

His hand slowly slipped out of hers as she stood up. Gold rolled onto his side and brought his legs up to a fetal position, watching her leave. Crystal almost regretted it. Leaving, that is. She wondered what it would be like to hug him, his hand was so warm so wondered if his chest would be as well if she used him as a pillow.

But they were just friends, if that. So she crawled into bed and slept for an hour.

* * *

Crystal wanted to study after waking up refreshed from her power nap. She was almost disappointed that Gold wasn't still in the library when she came back, but she ignored the feeling. Crystal did more diplomacy studying, looking at history books for all sorts of regions.

Her mind kept going back to Gold's homeland, the Highlands. She looked through every book they had that even mentioned the kingdom or was written by an author from there. Nothing mentioned the royal family keeping animals, but that seemed like something more recent. She did read about how the King and Queen were rather notorious for arranged marriages and didn't get along well. It gave Crystal a sick feeling, _why would Gold lie to her? Was it his way of escaping the truth? Did he want to mess with her? Was he just a pathological lier?_

Crystal shut her books, she didn't want to think about that anymore, she'll do mathematics instead.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 14


	8. Chapter 8

Strolling the grounds on horseback with Gold was interesting to say the least. He was a huge show off, always wanting to show how good he was at being in control of the horse. Even when he got bucked off he looked smug and said "I meant to do that."

He also made a point of telling Crystal how slow she was going, but she'd like to see him ride sidesaddle and not fall off, it's impossible to grip the horse. He would ride in circles around her when he got bored and made clopping noises with his mouth to imitate the horses hooves.

When it was calmer and quiet, Crystal tried to ask questions, even though she was so afraid of what the answers might be.

"So can I ask about-"

"Hang on," Gold interrupted. "You're always asking me questions, but you've hardly told me anything about yourself."

Crystal hadn't realized that, she just assumed Gold had learned everything about her being in the castle. "What do you want to know?"

"Tell me about your childhood," Gold suggested.

Crystal sighed. "It was a lot different from yours, I'm afraid."

"I don't doubt it. What was it like?"

"Well as you know, I'm an only child," she began. "After I was born my mother found out she couldn't have anymore children and my father thought the royal family should be an example of purity that our people could trust, so he refused to take any other wives or have children with other women. I don't really have much extended family either, or none that I know of, so I didn't see kids my own age very much. I wasn't allowed outside the castle either, even when my father traveled I had to stay because he was so afraid of me falling in love and running away. So instead of playing, I threw myself into studies, because I knew that the best thing I could do is get married and have children to continue the royal bloodline. I thought if I was smart, I could teach my kids and try to break the chain of the King and Queen rarely seeing their children."

"Wow," was Gold's only response.

"Don't get the wrong idea," Crystal corrected. "It was a nice childhood. I'm lucky my father let me study so much, usually families don't bother educating girls."

"Still, that all feels like a lot of responsibility for a child."

Crystal shrugged. "Now how about my questions?"

Gold frowned, it was such a foreign look for his face. "Or... we could do that tomorrow. Meet me at the stables around 11 o'clock, we'll ride somewhere pretty, and then I'll let you interrogate me."

"Why not now?"

"I wanted go into the city tonight, there's a play. Would you care to join me?" Gold asked, completely ignoring her question.

"Go-"

"Hey is that the timer for the imaginary cake I'm pretending to bake? Gotta go, Crys! Yah horsey Yah!" Gold called out, riding quickly away from her, faster than she could follow.

Dealing with him was enough to drive her insane. Gold was so, for lack of a better word, wishy washy. He went with the flow but in an unpredictable way, even when she thought she could predict what he would do next she would be wrong.

Crystal wasn't used to not knowing what would happen. She had her entire life laid out as a child, she knew what she wanted, she knew how to get there, she was in control of everything in her mind. But not Gold, even in her mind he was a free spirit. Crystal still wasn't sure how she felt about that.

Crystal didn't see Gold again until the next day at the stables, she assumed he was avoiding her in case she wanted to ask more questions.

"How fast can you go on your horse?" Gold asked.

"Mega? He can go fast, but I have to ride sidesaddle which isn't really speedy."

Gold cursed under his breath. "But if we don't move fast, we won't have much time together. Can't you ride normally? No one will notice."

"I'd like to see you try to ride in a dress like this."

Gold combed her over with his eyes, as if he was considering taking that challenge. "You call him Mega because he's strong, right? Could he carry both of us?"

"I guess-"

"Perfect!" Gold exclaimed. Crystal shrieked a little when he picked her up and put on the front of the saddle. He climbed up behind her and grabbed the reigns.

"Hang on!"

"To what?"

Gold smiled. "The mane of course, but if you don't want to pull his hair, I'm here."

Crystal looked at the horse then back to Gold. "He already is carrying two people, I don't want to hurt him..."

"Alright, tell me if you start to slip."

Gold started off at a trot, making his way out of the stable and toward a pathway. When he whipped the reigns and Mega started running, Crystal clutched onto Gold's torso for dear life. She had never gone anywhere close to this fast, every bump made her feel like she was flying up off the horse.

When they stopped, Crystal felt dizzy and her stomach was tight. But a certain amount of adrenaline and something she found fun about almost dying on horseback, kept her feeling alright. Gold, being a 'gentleman' held out a hand to help her off the horse's back.

Gold tied the reigns to a tree branch. "Mega here is a pretty great horse, strong, fast, not to mention nice," he added, patting Mega on the nose. "Maybe you should call this off before I steal your ride."

"Please, there is no way Mega would be nice to you if I wasn't here. He's bit off many a finger."

"Maybe a normal person's finger, but I'm an animal whisperer, right boy- HEY!" Gold called out when Mega snapped at his hand. Mega started tossing his head and kicking violent. Gold looked around frantically before noticing Crystal had disappeared behind a tree and was laughing hysterically.

"Fine, ok! He only like you! Happy?" Gold admitted.

"Maybe a little."

Gold huffed. "Anyway, we're here now."

"Where?" Crystal asked.

Gold grabbed her hand and his bag, leading her a little farther.

"Here!" Gold held his arms out toward a spring, it had clear, bubbling water and a small stream rolling out of it. The whole thing looked about as big as a large bedroom and it didn't look very deep where she could see, Crystal knew it must get deeper farther in.

"Why did you bring me to a spring?"

Gold chuckled, opening the bag and rifling through it. "You always look like you need to loosen up, so this is one of the things I like to do for fun."

"Sit next to a spring?"

Gold rolled his eyes and took something out of the bag. Crystal's eyes widened.

She had assumed it was going to be a picnic and the bag had a blanket and snacks inside, but no. The bag had bath towels and underwear. No no no no-

Gold was already taking off his shirt. "Swimming, Crys."

"What are you thinking," she hissed, turning around. "You can't just strip like that!"

"Relax, I'm keeping my underwear on, now come on. I'm not just going to strip and dance for you. You're going swimming too."

"I will not! I can't take off my clothes here, what if someone-"

"I've spent plenty of time here. No one has ever visited. You're fine."

"You'll see me in underwear," Crystal continued to protest. Gold had already taken everything off, now all he was wearing was beige pants that cut off a bit above the knee. They were laced up and high waisted, but not high enough for her to not see Gold's chest or stomach. She couldn't believe it, she shouldn't be anywhere near a naked man. _It was embarrassing!_

"We're going to be married in less than two weeks. I'm going to see you in your underwear then, and I won't tell anyone now," Gold offered.

"How do you even know how to swim? The Highlands is a cold region, you'd freeze to death swimming up there!" Crystal abruptly changed the topic.

"Believe it or not, I learned on a trip to Hoenn. Where I learned to swim in the ocean."

"Your father let you go to Hoenn? Why?"

Gold rolled his eyes, "not now, let's have fun. Come on, I'll teach you to swim!"

"What makes you think I don't already know?" She challenged.

"Didn't you mention not being able to leave the castle grounds very much? Where would you get swimming lessons?

"... Alright. But it doesn't matter. I'm not swimming in my underwear in front of you!"

Crystal turned her head away from him, she didn't need him to see her blushing face and make fun of her for being embarrassed over a little informality.

Gold walked in front of her and grabbed her hands.

"Do you see that?" Crystal looked back at him, intrigued and looked at where he was pointing, a spot in the middle of the spring.

"Is that... a rock?" There was something protruding from the water, but the glare from the sun made it difficult for her to see what it was.

"That's what I thought too, but upon further research, yes I did look it up myself, it's a crystal."

"You mean like-"

"-The ones Suicune is said to leave behind after purifying the water? Well did you know that a long time ago the water in the city became polluted? It didn't effect the royal family because they got their water from a different river. But down in the city several people died. But the princess, who cared more about her people than anything, prayed for days, and low and behold, something suddenly cleaned the water.

"Are you saying-"

"This used to be one of the springs that fed into the river the people used for water? And Suicune purified it? Yes and yes. Now the people choose to take water that comes directly from a clean spring that's bigger and closer to the city than this one, rather than the river. But don't you want to swim for the first time in water that was blessed by Suicune?"

Crystal knew this was a trap, even if it was true he was only saying to to appeal to her fascination with the divine beast. Worst of all, he was winning.

"Ok, you can teach me how to swim. But don't look while I take off my clothes." Crystal decided shyly.

"I'm going to see your underwear anyway-"

"Just don't look!"

Gold obeyed and turned around. Crystal hesitated, but quickly stripped down to her bodice and bloomers.

"You done?" Gold asked. Crystal nodded, only to remember he couldn't see her.

"Yes I am."

"Awesome, lets swim!" Gold dashed into the water, splashing everywhere. "Come on in, it's not that cold!"

Crystal took a few steps. And a couple more. She kept taking small steps until the water was at her knees. Gold was right, the water wasn't cold, but it wasn't warm either.

"You'll have to come in deeper for me to teach you how to swim." Gold told her.

She took another step.

"Like waist deep."

"Oh." Crystal continued to walk towards him slowly. Crystal stopped a couple feet in front of him.

"Crys, I'm not going to ravish you if you come any closer. But I kind do need to touch you so you don't drown."

Crystal blushed and frowned. "How can you speak like that? Don't you have any shame?"

"Absolutely none, come on."

Crystal put aside the reasonable part of her brain telling her not to, and went to Gold. He showed her the basic movements and held her hands while she practiced the kicks. Crystal didn't enjoy swimming very much, everything was so slow and she felt like her body wasn't in her control, but she let Gold teach her anyway. It could be a valuable skill after all.

After hours, Crystal achieved a pretty basic doggy paddle by herself and they stopped. They rested, wrapping themselves in warm towels, eating snacks Gold had brought, and watching the darkening sky.

"This was all just to keep me from asking you questions, wasn't it?" Crystal whispered under her breath, not wanting to disturb the nice quiet too much.

"Kinda."

Crystal sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. Gold wrapped an arm around her, inviting her into his warm body heat.

"Are you mad?" Gold asked quietly.

Crystal shook her head slightly. "I understand that you don't want to tell me everything. But after we get married, I'm hoping you'll tell me more."

Gold tenses. "There- there is something I need to tell you."

"What?"

"I can't say. I want to, but I just-"

Crystal smiled and closed her eyes. "Don't hurt yourself over it. Tell me when you can."

"You're the best," Gold mumbled. He other hand reaching for her cheek and lifting her face so he could look her in the eyes. Crystal just thought he was going to tell her something, but then he started leaning in.

Crystal yelped and dodged to the side, accidentally head-butting his shoulder.

"Ow!" Gold retracted and Crystal tried to scramble away but Gold's arm was still around her, preventing her from going very far.

"Sorry!" Crystal apologized.

"No, it's my fault I guess I shouldn't have startled you like that." Gold rubbed his shoulder.

"I just-" Crystal hesitated and started again, "I just don't want that from you. Not right now at least! My feelings toward you are still confusing and even though we're getting married it might be best if we just stay friends," Crystal explained quickly, trying not to show how nervous and flustered she felt just because he tried to kiss her.

"Alright," Gold agreed quickly, to Crystal's surprise he looked almost as nervous as she did. "Is there a reason I'm confusing you that you'd like to talk about? Not just because I want to kiss you! I just, you know," Gold mumbled the last bit and didn't finish his thought, but Crystal understood.

She took a deep breath. "I guess I'm still a bit upset over what happened the first week. I know now why you did everything and why you wanted to call off the wedding and you can actually be nice. But it still hurt."

Crystal closed her eyes tightly, ready for Gold to tease her about being petty, a horrible trait for a princess.

"You're right." Crystal opened her eyes, stunned. This wasn't the reaction she expected. "I'm sorry about all that, I didn't understand how important this all was, or how lucky I am to spend time with you. I was selfish and crappy and I wish I could take it back," Gold admitted.

"You apologized..." Crystal said in awe. "No offense but from what I've seen that isn't very Gold like."

"Did you not want me to apologize?"

"No, I did. I just didn't really expect it. You always seemed so..."

"Selfish?"

"I was going to say prideful, and not about to renounce any of your previous actions."

Gold laughed, much more Gold-like. "Well, we haven't know each other for that long, and the Gold who apologizes isn't my most prominent personality."

"In that case, I should apologize too-"

"What? No, you did nothing wrong!"

"-just let me finish. I know I must have come across kinda stuck up, serious, and judgmental when we first met, so I'm sorry for not being kinder and for not allowing you to open up sooner."

Gold sighed and pulled her head back onto his shoulder and rested his cheek on her head. "I want to say that it's not you and I'm sorry, I was too focused on my goals to try and realize why you might act that way, but I'm assuming if I did you would say it's your fault again?"

"Because it is."

"How about we call it a tie. It's nobodies fault! We didn't make the best first impression on each other and we both tried to narrow the other down to one or two personality traits we saw and disliked before getting to know each other. However, I acted way to harshly and crossed a line. But were friends now."

"That sounds fair," Crystal concluded. She still felt bad about not trying to get to know Gold, she was too focused on her own plan to realize that maybe just because she was alright in a loveless marriage, doesn't mean he was. But Crystal didn't want to bring it back up.

"Anyway, I'm glad you mentioned this. I guess I needed to be humbled today."

Crystal closed her eyes again, Gold was warm and his voice was comfortable. "I'm glad too, I needed to hear that you considered us friends and aren't being mean to me anymore."

"You'll tell me if I do anything else so I can apologize, right? Sometimes if I don't notice that I did something wrong or hurt your feelings, it doesn't mean I don't care, I'm just an idiot sometimes," Gold reassured her, his temperament was overly serious.

"It's not just sometimes," Crystal joked, hoping to lighten the mood. She succeeded and Gold laughed.

"Can I just ask one question?" Crystal proposed.

"Shoot."

"Earlier, she you were so determined to have me call this off, why didn't you just do it?"

Gold's face sank and his eyes darkened. "I can't say..."

Crystal nodded, she wanted to find out whatever dark past was behind his cheerful smile, but hated to see him sad. "Alright," Crystal responded. "But promise that you'll tell me eventually, I don't care if I'm on my deathbed. I just want you to be able to talk about it one day."

Gold smiled. "I promise."

Silence followed for a minute after that. Neither of them wanted to disturb the other. Crystal spoke up when she saw the sky turning orange.

"We should get going," Crystal suggested. "The sun is already setting."

"But our clothes are still wet," Gold protested, squeezing her hand.

"Our underwear is damp. Once were back at the castle we can change into dry ones."

"I actually brought an extra so I can-"

"No you cannot. Did you bring a pair for me? No, don't answer that. We are doing this together."

"Are you sure you're not afraid you'll accidentally see me naked while I'm changing?" Gold teased.

"What if I am? I'm still unmarried, I have a right to remain modest if I want to."

Gold fell on his back laughing. "I mean, you're right. But I was just kidding. Man, you must really not want to see me anywhere close to naked, huh?"

"Well, I do have standards."

"You wound me, Princess."

"Come on. Let's head back."

Gold jumped onto his feet. After they put their clothes back on and gathered up all their stuff, Gold bowed. "After you, milady."

Crystal laughed. "Fetch me my stallion!" She playfully demanded.

"Right away!"

Gold helped her onto the horse and they rode back together, somehow making it in time for dinner.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 12


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning was odd. Surprisingly, Crystal's schedule matched up with her parents and she ate breakfast with them. They asked about how she was doing and she asked about the wedding plans. Gold and Silver weren't eating with them, even though they had eaten at the same time almost every morning.

When she left, she wandered around the castle a bit and ran into Silver.

She tried to ask about breakfast because Silver was very punctual, but he interrupted her.

"Last night, when you were with Gold, did he seem alright?" Silver inquired.

"What do you mean?"

"Was he acting at all strange? Tell you anything odd?"

"No, I'm pretty sure he was as normal as usual," Crystal answered. He did say something odd about not being able to tell her something, but it didn't seem like a big deal.

"Thank you. Sorry for bothering you, Princess. How was your morning?"

"Fine," she wanted to bring up breakfast, but it seemed obvious that Silver didn't want her to.

"Do you have any plans for today?"

Crystal held her chin and thought for a moment. "No, I don't believe I do. It's a nice day out, maybe I'll go into city."

"For what reason?"

"I'm not sure, I'd like something new to read, and maybe I'll go see a play or visit some people."

"Do you need an escort when you go out? I know some families enforce that."

Crystal sighed, remembering. "Yes, I do have to bring someone with me." Her mind immediately went to asking Gold, but she wasn't sure he would count because he wasn't an employee.

"If so, would you mind if I went with you?" Silver asked.

Crystal was a bit shocked, sure she was friendly with Silver, but he usually seemed so busy. But spending time with him wasn't bad, so if wanted to go out it might as well be with Silver.

"Of course I wouldn't mind. I would like it very much. Should we meet around 10 o'clock in the entrance hall?"

"That sounds fine."

* * *

Crystal met him, dressed as plainly as possible.

"Do I look alright? Or will I stand out to much? It's been forever since I've been into the city," Crystal questioned.

"I'm sure people will recognize you as the princess because they've seen you before, but you look fine," Silver answered.

Crystal nodded and followed him out the front gate. The city was so much different than she remembered. Crystal should have expected this considering the last time she was there without there being a formal event, she was eleven.

The streets were bustling and barely anyone seemed to recognize her as the princess because they weren't really paying attention. She was continually shoved and mostly had to hold Silver's hand so she wouldn't accidentally get separated from him and get lost.

Silver took her into adorable shops, more than just the book store she wanted to see. She bought a book, two actually, one was filled with pictures of beautiful landscapes and the other was a book about flowers. She also bought some truffles for her and Silver in a sweets shop, the woman at the counter recognized Silver immediately and embarrassed the redhead with the huge sweet tooth he never told anyone about.

"And what's that?" Crystal asked as they walked down the street.

Silver read the sign she pointed at, "Bath House? It's a public bath."

Her jaw dropped. "People bath in public? Don't they want to get married and-"

"Commoners aren't always expected to be as 'pure' as a princess in order to be married. And public baths are very common, buying all that water and heating it up just for a bath is a lot of work."

"I had no idea..." Crystal continued to walk down the street. She hadn't realized how little she actually knew about the lives of her people until now.

They walked past a run down building, there were vines growing up the side and a broken sign in front that read 'Earl's Orphanage.'

Crystal gasped. "Stop! Silver, I know this place! On holidays when I was young, my father would let me come down and hand out presents to the kids!"

Silver scanned the building. "It doesn't look very safe. It could be abandoned and now inhabited by ruffians."

"Let's just look. It can't hurt, especially if there are kids in there!"

Silver was reluctant, but lead Crystal up to the door. He made a point to approach first and hold tightly onto her hand incase they ran into trouble. Silver reached out his other hand and knocked.

No answer.

"I guess it's abandoned," Silver observed.

Crystal's face fell. "What happened? Did they relocate? Is there another orphanage around here?"

"I don't think so."

"But..." Crystal muttered. "It's not like all the orphans in a city just disappear. What happened to them?"

"My guess? The owner died and without any funding the children didn't have heat, or food, or water. So they left."

"That's not common, right?"

Silver shook his head solemnly. "I'm afraid orphanages get shut down all the time. They aren't profitable and often the money lender that helped the owner buy the building, will kick out everyone and reclaim the building if they don't pay the bills."

"That's awful," Crystal croaked. There was a lump in her throat and her eyes stung. "How could we just let these things happen? Why doesn't the royal family help out places like orphanages?"

Silver sighed, "lets go..."

"Can I look inside?"

Silver didn't respond so Crystal opened the door herself. The inside looked dark and dreary, completely abandoned by all life, not even the plants grew insolidaridad the building.

Crystal took the first step inside, maybe she would find children hiding out there she could help. Or someone who dreams of fixing the place who she could give money to.

But as soon as she moved her second foot and put pressure on the floor it collapsed underneath her.

Crystal didn't even scream, she was to stunned to do anything.

Fortunately, Silver never let go of her hand. "Princess!" He called out, grabbing her under the arms ad pulling her up before she fell about ten feet into the buildings basement.

"We should go," Silver urged.

Crystal knew if she spoke she would burst into tears. The floor had just broken, like her dreams. All those orphans, the only other kids she really got to see, they were all dead by now. This building couldn't support anyone.

Crystal nodded and followed Silver off the grounds.

"Silver?" Crystal asked, trying to compose herself.

"Yes?"

"What was your childhood like?"

Silver stopped in his tracks. It seemed rather suspicious that both Gold and Silver were so nervous about talking about their childhoods, but Crystal wasn't sure what it meant yet.

"My childhood was difficult." He finally replied. "My sister and I, not blood related but we grew up together, were taken from our families by pirates. When we escaped we were far from home and ended up in an orphanage. Similar to that one, it went out of business and we ended up on the streets. We spent years as thieves here in Johto, but my sister was older than I was and remembered where her family was, Kanto. She wanted to go and take me with her, but I couldn't. I stayed here because I was afraid of her family hating me when she found them."

Crystal couldn't hold it in any longer, Silver was there, pouring his heart out to her. She cried, sobbed, let it all out. It was so sad, here she was worried about petty things like marriage and whether or not she was being lied to, when the people in the kingdom she swore to protect we're going through so much worse. Children were starving on the streets, forced into lives they didn't choose, and she was doing nothing, she didn't even know until now.

"It worked out in the end. I traveled and met Gold and now I'm here. It's fine really." Silver reassured her. But by now Crystal was inconsolable, she wanted to drown in her tears and guilt.

She reached out and hugged Silver, pulling him close. "I-I'm so sorry... when I'm married to Gold he-he'll be able to make decisions I wasn't able to and I'll make him start by establishing lots of orphanages."

Silver tensed and didn't really hug her back, just patted her back a little. "I'm fine, but thanks. That sounds like a great idea."

"Let's head back." Crystal let him go and wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"You don't want to see the play?"

"No, I've already had some fun, bought stuff, and cried. I think that's enough for today."

Silver nodded.

"Actually, while we walk back, can I ask you about Gold?" Crystal questioned.

"Sure. What about him?"

"Well, every time I try to ask about his childhood he clams up, which is super weird considering he's usually such an open person," Crystal explained. "Is he trying to hide something?"

Silver sighed. Crystal had become much more confused, because despite his original hesitations, Silver opened up to her. His story was a lot less suspicious, she couldn't figure out what was going on.

"Gold is a... complicated person. But trust me, he cares about you and when the time is right, you'll hear everything."

 _Yes because that isn't at all confusing. Maybe Gold made a promise with a mischievous sprite and now had to give them his first child so he just didn't want kids. Yeah. That makes the most sense._

Crystal decided it might be easiest to change the subject. "Silver, are you going to get married?"

For the first time, Crystal saw Silver laugh. He had such an amusing laugh and his smile matched his face so well. She was so disappointed when he started talking and it went away.

"No, no. I have no interest in getting married. I have my sister and she has kids, I have Gold, and now you I guess. I don't really want to be married, that seems like far to much work for something I don't want."

"Really? You don't seem like the type to stay single and party with girls your whole life."

"Who said anything about that? I don't really want any sort of romance."

"Really?"

"It's just never been something that intrigued me."

Crystal smiled. "If it makes you happy, I'm glad you can make that choice."

"Thanks."

They walked back to the castle together, a comfortable silence lingering in the air. Crystal grinned to herself, she had made two friends, Silver and Gold. She finally had friends, friends who she could spend time with, and laugh with, and talk to when she felt sad. And the best part, they weren't going anywhere.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 11


	10. Chapter 10

"So," Crystal took a break from reading in the library to start a conversation with Gold. "The wedding is right around the corner, only about eleven more days. And guests will start arriving in less than a week."

"But my father won't be here until the actual wedding?"

"Yeah, he's a king, he's busy," Crystal confirmed.

Gold nodded. "So who can I expect to see at this wedding?"

"I know Princess Daisy and her husband Prince Bill, as well as Prince Green from Kanto will be here. I haven't been told if King Oak is coming, but he might. Oh! And Yellow, the duchess of Viridian will be here."

"Cool, cool. I know none of those people," Gold stated.

"You never visited Kanto? I would be surprised if you did and weren't addressed by the royal family, they're very formal."

Gold shrugged. "When I went I tried to keep a low profile."

"Do you know the ambassador to Hoenn, Norman? Or his son Ruby?"

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"Did you ever talk to anyone remarkably noble when you traveled?"

"That's no fun," Gold teased. "If I wanted to hang out with nobles I would have stayed home."

"Well," Crystal replied happily. "Once were married you'll take me to see all your commoner friends, won't you?"

Gold's smile faded, as it usually did when she used the phrase 'when we're married.' She couldn't figure out if he was still reluctant to get married or if there was something he wasn't telling her.

 _Maybe, he was attacked on his way here and is a ghost now. Or his father wasn't the King, even though the Queen told him it was his son, it was a magical being and Gold has supernatural powers._

"I wish I could have invited them to the wedding, to bad these things are usually 'nobles only.'" Gold frowned.

"I'm sure you could have invited them, but it's a little late now, though."

"Wish I had known you would have been cool with it before I came down here and met you."

Crystal laughed, but thought more about what would take place at the wedding. Then it dawned on her.

"At the engagement ceremony, you didn't like me then, right? So you were trying to step on my toes?" Crystal panicked. "You can actually dance, right?"

Gold laughed anxiously. "Actually I was kinda indifferent towards you back then..."

"You can't dance?" Crystal held back her voice from yelling. "You know everyone who we need to respect us will be watching us dance. Just us! If you screw up, everyone will see!"

"Sorry-"

"Didn't you take lessons as a child?"

"Um, technically I did take lessons..."

"How many?"

"... About three-"

"You're kidding me, right?" Crystal yelled at him. "How did your parents not require it? Did you never expect to get married?"

"Look, my teacher was a mean old lady who would threaten to break my toes if I stepped on her feet, so I usually skipped those lessons to do something more exciting. Like fencing."

Crystal look a deep breath to calm herself down and silently counted to ten.

"Alright Gold, since you were an idiot, I'll teach you how to dance."

"Wait- what?"

"You didn't like your lessons because of the teacher, correct? Well now you can dance with a pretty girl, you even get to touch my waist."

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining!" Gold jumped up enthusiastically. "When do we start?"

Crystal used a bookmark to save her place and put the book on the table.

"Come with me to the ballroom and we'll start now."

* * *

"Ok Gold, this is very simple. You saw what steps I did?"

"Yup."

"And you know what number I assigned to each of them?"

"Absolutely."

"Alright, try it by yourself. 1 2 3 4, 1 2 3 4..."

Crystal continued to count to a beat like a metronome. Watching Gold's feet, Crystal made sure he didn't mess up the steps.

"Ok, that was better," Crystal applauded when she finished counting.

"Can I dance with you now?" Gold asked, she had lured him here promising they would dance, but so far she had barely stood next to him.

"Mmmm... Sure." Crystal stood in front of him and started rearranging his body. "Now this hand goes here, and that one there and put your feet back into the starting position. You'll have to learn to lead, but for now follow me."

"Gotcha!"

Crystal did more counting and kept telling Gold not to look at his feet, she could do that, and he wouldn't look at his feet when they were dancing for real.

"Ow! Watch out for my toes, Gold!"

"How can I when you won't let me look at my feet!"

"You shouldn't have to if you do it correctly." Crystal sighed and stopped him. "I should have you practice the arm and leg movements together by yourself first so you don't get confused."

"No!" Gold objected. "I can do it with you, pretty please!" He begged.

"Do it once on your own and do it well. Then I'll dance with you."

Gold practically jumped for joy. "Alright, lets see if I can do this."

"It's just a simple waltz, Gold. You really should be able to do this," she reminded him.

"Just wait until you need someone to defend your honor in a duel, then all those fencing classes will come in handy."

Crystal rolled her eyes amusedly. "You'll be my first choice as a champion in a duel. Now get it position. Hold your arms out, remember!"

"Oh yeah!"

Crystal smiled and started counting again. Gold wasn't perfect, so she had him do it again and again until it was getting late.

"Let's call it quits for tonight, ok?" Crystal suggested.

Gold frowned, "but we didn't dance together."

"You didn't do it well enough."

"But tomorrow, we'll start our next lesson tomorrow and you'll dance with me at least once?"

"I'll do you one better, I'll have music." Crystal grinned.

"But the dance. We'll do that to the music together?" Gold clarified.

"Of course."

Gold smirked. "My, my, Princess. Dancing together with music? Are you asking me on a date?"

Crystal blinked and hardened her gaze. "Well, yes. Tomorrow is a date, as is everyday. If a day wasn't on the calendar it wouldn't be a date."

"No, like a date."

"Yes. A date, like the one on the calendar. Unless you wanted the fruit-"

"You've never been on a date? Have you, Crys?" Gold asked, leaning in closer.

"I feel like you know something I don't..."

Gold laughed and pulled away. "You don't even know what a date is?"

"Of course I do! It's a day or a fruit!" Crystal glared.

"Technically yes, but there is a third definition."

"What would that be?"

"Like... a date! An activity you do with someone you have a romantic interest in, in order to advance the relationship and learn more about them," Gold explained surprisingly eloquently.

Crystal frowned, "I was engaged for 17 years! How would I have known that!" Gold laughed and Crystal forced herself to continue. "So is it like courting?" She asked.

"Kinda." Gold held a hand to his chin, thinking before responding. "I suppose it's less formal than courting. A couple that I scouting may go on dates, but they aren't always a courting couple, sometimes they barely know each other. Dating is less of an agreement and trying to get married, as much as fun and spending time with people."

Crystal gasped. "Like... painted ladies?" She whispered.

"No!" Gold responded immediately. "A whore charges money and its usually for a... service rather than a date. A date is just to get to know people."

"Like a pre-courting?"

"Sure! It's like to find out who you want to court with."

"Then this obviously wouldn't be a date. We're already getting married."

Gold sighed, "I was just teasing, Crys. It's like a schoolyard thing to make fun of people for seemingly having a romantic interest in them."

"How would you know? You didn't go to school, you had tutors."

Gold's head shot up so quickly Crystal thought his neck would snap.

"Oh yeah I didn't- but- um- I travel, remember? I've seen other kids be in schoolyards," Gold sputtered. Crystal was curious why he suddenly was so anxious, but Gold yellowed a quick goodbye and ran off before she could say anything.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 10


	11. Chapter 11

Sunday marked less than a week before the wedding. Gold attended church with Crystal and occasionally showed off his new latin skills by whispering translations of prayers in her ear. Crystal thought about chiding him for talking, or for his incredibly warm and distracting breath on her ear, but didn't because she was just happy he enjoyed the results of his learning.

"Church must be different here, huh?" Crystal asked outside, after the service ended.

"Hm? Oh yeah. I guess," Gold replied blankly.

"'I guess?'"

Gold smirked, "we do worship the same Gods."

"But the Highlands uses English prayers and has calls the monks 'priests', and has them in all these churches talking about stuff! All the monks at our churches do on Sundays is read out the latin scripture in English so the people can understand it."

"Oh... yeah... Well I've been going to your churches for almost a month! I guess I just got used to them quickly, cut me some slack."

Crystal felt uneasy, it sounded like another cover up, another lie. But she ignored her gut, it was being ridiculous. Crystal let the topic go and listened to Gold rave on about the extremely unsatisfying ending of a play he saw.

Walking past the front gates, Crystal saw a familiar carriage pulled up and a figure stepping out.

Her face brightened. "Yellow!" Crystal called out, running toward the blond girl.

"Crystal!" Yellow greeted, embracing Crystal. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. You?"

"Fine as well."

"And I'm fine too," Gold stated bitterly as he stepped next to Crystal. Crystal realized then that she had just run away from their conversation and should probably apologize, but she giggled instead because there was something so funny about Gold's behavior. _Was he jealous?_

Crystal cleared her throat. "Sorry Gold, this is Yellow, the Duchess of Viridian. Yellow, this is Prince Ethan Gold, the Prince and my fiancé, but you can just call him Gold."

"Nice to meet you, Gold." Yellow held out her hand.

Gold shook it, and Crystal mentally noted that he didn't kiss her hand like he did when they first met. "Viridian? I've been there and I didn't think they had a duchess. Something about the end of that family."

"Yes, for a long time I was raised by my uncle in the forest on the outskirts." Yellow nodded politely. "But a few years ago I was contacted and told I was the next in line to be Duchess, so here I am."

"Yellow visited the castle soon after becoming duchess and we became pen pals," Crystal explained. "Is Red here too?"

Yellow nodded enthusiastically. "No, I'm afraid he just had too much on his plate, but he'll try to make it for the wedding day and he sends his regards."

"Red?" Gold asked.

"My husband," she answered.

"Wait, Red Akairo? From Pallet?"

"Yes, do you know him?"

Gold laughed, "of course I know him! Red's the coolest!"

"Oh! You must have met him when he was working at the Kanto castle. Were you visiting Prince Green?"

Gold spoke awkwardly, "um, no... I met him... actually, that's a long story, and I'm afraid contains somethings that I would rather not have my lovely fiancé associating me with. I am a changed man, after all." He brushed it off.

Crystal raised an eyebrow, the uneasy feeling coming back. But Yellow laughed and Crystal pushed all the feelings back down again.

* * *

Having Yellow there was comforting. Not that Crystal wasn't comfortable around Gold and Silver by now, but Yellow was another girl. Crystal didn't quite feel comfortable taking about girl stuff, like restricting corsets, with Gold and Silver because she didn't want to hear them saying something about how corsets emphasize her bosom. She thought it might be wrong, to filter what she said around her friends so they wouldn't disappoint her, but she so badly didn't want to lose these friends.

Crystal sat in a chair in Yellow's room while she stood behind her, playing with her hair and chattering on and on. It was trivial things, gardens, Red, her friend Blue, but Crystal sat quietly, enjoying the ramblings of a friend.

Yellow had a mellow voice. Not high or shrill, deep or gravely, soft but firm and slightly lower than Crystal's own voice, it was impossible to tell her gender just by her voice or the way she spoke.

"I think I messed up..." Yellow backed away from Crystal's hair as if it would bite her.

Crystal reached behind her head and touched the "braid" Yellow had been working on. Crystal only laughed and brought the knot of tangles to her shoulder and started slowly undoing it.

"It's fine Yellow, my hair has been through worse."

"You've burned your hair too?"

Crystal narrowed her eyebrows. "No... is that something you've done?"

Chuckling awkwardly, Yellow sat down on the bed. "Once when I was a kid."

"..."

"Ok twice, but I'm not telling you about the second time."

"I didn't say-"

"Fine! Fine! It was more than twice and once was last week! But I think it's best for our friendship if I don't tell you all the details of how much of a klutz I am!" Yellow cried out, defeated.

Crystal stood up, hoping she didn't actually need comfort. "Yellow, I didn't ask all that! You didn't need to say anything!"

"I know I'm just horrible at lying." She laughed. "But what about you?" Yellow quickly changed directions. "Are you ready to get married? Gold looked interesting and you seemed friendly. Have you guys grown close?" Yellow raised her eyebrows as suggestively as a 20 year old who looked 14 could.

"We have grown close, but only as friends." Yellow sighed. "But I am looking forward to marrying him. Every time I try to ask him about his family or childhood he clams up, but I'm hoping after some time being married he'll trust me enough to tell me."

"Really? He didn't look very secretive, if anything he looked like he would give too much information," Yellow pondered.

Crystal shook her head. "He usually does! When I ask if his food is good at dinner it's like he's reciting an epic about spices, but if I ask about his relationship with his family or what the Highlands is like, I get nothing."

"Maybe he's a pirate who just conveniently looks like the prince and killed him to abuse the castles resources?" Yellow suggested.

"But he hasn't done anything like that! He hasn't asked for jewels, or riches, or more maids, or anything pirate-y."

"Maybe he's trying to make you like him so he can kidnap you without much resistance?"

"Trust me," Crystal mused. "When we first met he was desperate to make me call off the wedding."

"Hmm... is he a shapeshifter?" Yellow grinned.

Crystal smiled. "Perhaps. You look into that."

"As you wish," Yellow responded playfully, making Crystal laugh.

* * *

At dinner Gold looked sour and kissed Crystal's hand as she entered the dining hall, using the gesture to drag her to a seat in between him and Silver, who mouthed a quick apology on Gold's behalf.

But Yellow didn't seem to care that Gold was rather aggressive in asserting his friendship with Crystal. In fact she spent the whole meal on the verge of breaking down laughing. And Crystal couldn't blame her, jealous Gold was hilarious.

He kept screwing up simple phases and getting frustrated.

"Crys, can you past the bees? The pees. Brass the- UGH!"

At one point Crystal swore even Silver was smiling.

Halfway through he gave up and just rested his head on Crystal's shoulder, forgoing the rest on his meal.

"Hey are we doing more dancing tomorrow?" Gold asked suddenly when Crystal was done eating.

"That was my plan, why?"

"... No reason."

"You don't think I'm going to forget you and spend all my time with Yellow, right?" Gold blushed and Yellow's head perked up slightly at the mention of her name, but ultimately kept out of it and looked down at her plate. "I managed to be friends with Silver without neglecting you, so I think I can be spend time with Yellow as well and you'll be fine."

Gold flushed and looked away. "Yeah," he mumbled, "we should probably go to bed too. Early morning, right Silv?"

"Hm?" Silver looked over Crystal at Gold, who he clearly hadn't been listening to.

"I think Gold said-" Yellow paused so she could let out some giggles. "He said that he'd like you take him to bed."

Gold laughed, full unbridled laughter that she hadn't heard all day.

Crystal was shocked. Yellow? She was so innocent! A little girl who was actually older than Crystal that was raised sheltered in the forest away from human corruption.

Not anymore.

Yellow was laughing at a crude joke, that she had made! And Gold, the crudest boy she had ever met, was laughing too! Were they getting along? Over this?

Silver stood up and grabbed Gold's arm tightly, dragging him out of the chair.

Gold left with Silver, but not before leaving another thought. "Only after a drink or two Yellow. Actually, maybe sober for Silver. Your husband on the other hand? I'm jumping him the second he walks through that door."

Yellow laughed so hard she fell out of her chair, and Gold was forceful dragged off the scene. Crystal was lost, she wasn't entirely sure how to respond to anything at this point.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 6


	12. Chapter 12

Realizing she was becoming friends with Gold was slow, drawn out. Crystal saw herself talking to him more, spending more time with him, and the feelings just developed over time.

Falling in love with him was less of a tumble down a hill and more dropping a rock off a table. It hit hard and fast.

* * *

It was Thursday, only 2 days before the wedding. Since the ballroom was being set up, Crystal suggested they try to dance in the garden. Not that Gold still needed dance lessons, he was now good enough to not embarrass himself and dance with other people just fine.

But they liked dancing with each other, so the lessons continued on.

There wasn't music so Gold took it upon himself to make up dances that wouldn't follow any decent music. Crystal laughed as he spun her and wasn't even the slightest bit bothered that the lesson devolved into giggling and the most fun parts of different dances.

"I call this one, 'Don't drop that Princess!'" Gold declared.

Crystal watched amusedly as Gold did a bit of funny footwork toward her. Then, lifting her up by the waist, Gold spun in a circle, holding Crystal in the air. She squealed a bit when he first picked her up because it was unexpected, and screeched when he dropped her, even if her feet were only about a foot off the ground. Before she hit the ground, Gold caught her and dipped her, like at end of some real, romantic dance.

Looking into each other's eyes, faces inches apart, Gold smiled. Crystal was still in shock, after all, she had just been dropped. Gold leaned down and pecked her on the forehead before standing up and straightening himself.

That's how it actually happened, Crystal thought it over too many times for it to be any other way. But to her, in the moment, time froze.

His lips touched her forehead and her she gasped silently, a sudden intake of air through her mouth (her nose was too close to his lips to work properly). She felt it all, the warmth, his silky skin, his nose slightly bumping her head. She had never realized how cold and lonely her forehead was.

And as he pulled away and Crystal saw his eyes-

She fell.

She fell hard.

Metaphorically of course, Gold would never drop her. No, he lifted her back onto her own legs while she stood their gawking and useless.

Gold talking broke the spell.

"Get it? It's called don't drop that princess because I drop you, but I don't and-"

"I- I have to go." Crystal rushed out her words and ran away.

She ran fast enough so the only response she could hear from him was a simple "huh?"

* * *

Crystal went to Yellow, not knowing how to handle it by herself.

Yellow opened the door to her room when she heard Crystal knock. "Crystal, nice to see you! What's going on?"

"Can I come in to talk with you?" Crystal pleaded.

"Of course-" Crystal rushed into the room and shut the door behind her quickly.

"Have you ever been in love?" She asked.

Yellow took a step back. "I-I'm sorry?"

"Love. Have you ever felt it?" Crystal asked again.

Yellow smiled like a she knew the secret of life and was lucky enough to share it. "Love isn't a feeling, Crystal. It's a choice."

"Can you choose it without knowing?"

"I suppose, but there is a thin line between infatuation and love."

"How do you tell?"

The smile was whipped from Yellow's face. She knitted her eyebrows together, thinking.

"Well, love is a choice. You might not think its voluntary now, but when infatuation goes away, you have to make the conscious decision to love. At least that's what I remember reading in a book once. Probably. Why?"

"Just tell me, have you ever been in love?"

"Love? Yes, I married Red because I loved him, and back in my early years of being Duchess I loved someone else. But it was a forbidden love, so technically I could never be with them."

"Forbidden?"

"It... was a girl," Yellow confirmed.

Crystal got over it quickly. Yellow's past relationships were the least of her concerns.

"What is it like? Being in love."

"Beautiful," Yellow breathed dreamily. "Everything is perfect. Red is perfect, she was perfect. Both times they were my world, everything else came second to them."

"Was it at all... frightening?"

"Of course! But like I said, the first time was forbidden, being caught could lead to horrible consequences. And with Red I was terrified that would shunned for marrying for love rather than status, I was still new at the whole nobility thing."

"But just being in love, wasn't that frightening? Feeling so much towards one person, never having felt this way before because, sure you've loved people, but this person was family, your best friend, and everything you've dreamed about all in one."

"That sounds like you're scared of losing them, not loving them." Yellow suggested. "So who is it?"

"Do you promise you won't tell?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die."

Crystal look a deep breath. "Gold," she muttered.

"Gold?" Yellow gasped and Crystal shushed her, thinking someone might hear. "Sorry, this is just so exciting! It's like you're marrying for love! Oh! You're going to be so happy together!"

"I just- I feel like he's keeping secrets from me and I just can't tell him... I never planned on marrying someone I love! Or falling in love with anyone, for that matter."

"You've known him for a month, and he looks like he really likes you too. I say tell him! I'm positive he loves you too." Yellow voted in the nonexistent poll.

"Maybe he does, but I'm not sure I'm ready to be so vulnerable and stuff..."

"You're marrying him for Mew's sake! You know how vulnerable you have to be on your wedding night?"

Crystal blushed and covered Yellow's mouth with her hand desperately. "Don't talk like that! You're as bad as he is!"

When she took away her hand Yellow was smirking. "You don't have to listen to me and make a move, but Red's arriving tonight with the Princess, Prince, and Bill. I'm just saying, at dinner there are going to be more than one lovey-dovey couples, so use the romantic atmosphere to your advantage."

"I'll think about it," Crystal surrendered. She knew she wanted to talk to Gold about it, but it made her lightheaded and dizzy to think to hard about how she would articulate the confession. Especially after she rejected him.

* * *

Yellow was right, the mood during dinner was... uncomfortable to say the least. People were talking and laughing, but Crystal couldn't help feeling incredibly awkward sitting next to Gold. He was so close, she wanted to reach over and hold his hand. His nice, warm, comfortable hand. But she couldn't.

Crystal stayed quiet, she was usually good at formal events, especially dinners, but tonight she looked down, avoided eye contact, and poked at her food. As if people could see right through her and into her brain if she let them see her. Unfortunately, avoiding confrontation 2 days before your wedding was an impossible feat. Crystal tried to give short, one or two word answers, she thought she sounded annoyed rather than concise, but Gold was always there to pick up the conversation for her.

Crystal wanted to thank him for understanding her, for being there, she wanted to talk to him, look at him longingly. But she didn't want to imagine not seeing him looking back at her the same way. _Was this what love was like? Wanting someone so bad it hurt knowing you can't just lay down and hold them?_ If so it was very different than Crystal imagined.

When the dinner was over Crystal was eager to run to her room, but a hand on her arm dragged her back into an empty space. She was alone, face to face with Gold, the object of her affections, standing against the wall in a narrow hallway.

Gold looked deeply into her eyes and brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "You were awfully quiet tonight. Is everything alright?"

Crystal shuddered when he pulled his had away from her face, not ready to let go of the contact. _Why did love make her want to touch and hold him so much?_

"I- I can't tell you. I want to but..."

Gold laughed quietly. "That sounds rather familiar. You're not making fun of me are you?"

Crystal shook her head slowly, never leaving his eyes.

"Alright, well I'll see you tomorrow." Gold leaned down and kissed her on the forehead for the second time that day. And maybe it was that, his lips on her forehead that gave her the confidence to do something very unladylike and not very Crystal-like at all.

She grasped his cheeks in her hands, pulled his face down to hers, and kissed him.

It must have only lasted a second or two, but in her mind it was hours. She took time to notice every detail, when he realized what was going on and kissed her back, ever muscle he moved in his face, every movement of his neck, repositioning his face against hers.

When his hand grazed her shoulder she realized what was going on. They were kissing! But Gold, he had probably kissed tons of girls, and Crystal? She had never even worked up the guts to kiss her pillow! What if she wasn't doing anything correctly? Her face was suddenly hot, not because she was flushed from kissing him, but because she was embarrassed.

In one smooth motion, Crystal broke apart from him, ducked under his arm, and ran away. She didn't look for his expression, fearing he would look disappointed or unsatisfied.

She ran and didn't stop until her bedroom door was closed firmly behind her.

* * *

Days until the wedding: 2


	13. Chapter 13

The next day was a blur, fittings, decorations, taste testings. Crystal only saw Gold once or twice in passing, both being dragged in different directions. All Crystal wanted was to be able to talk to him and sit with him, she felt incredibly guilty for kissing him and then running off the night before. She just wanted to explain herself and pray that he felt the same way. All her efforts proved to be in vain because by the time she was changed into her night clothes she had still yet to talk with Gold.

Crystal gave up, she could speak with him the next day, after the wedding they'd have plenty of time together. She laid in bed, mentally going over what she planned on saying when she heard a rapping on her balcony door. She was hesitant at first to open it, because it very well could be a kidnapper, but what kind of kidnapper knocked?

"Did you miss me?"

Opening the doors, a friendly face stood in front of her, smiling, ready to embrace her.

"Gold!" Crystal exclaimed, reaching out to hug him. He held her close, his warm body protected hers from the cold, nighttime air.

Gold pulled back and looked her over. It looked like he was crying, but the dark lighting left Crystal unsure. "You look beautiful, like always."

"What are you doing here?"

Gold took a deep breath and embraced her again. "We need to talk. Can I come in?"

Crystal nodded enthusiastically and lit up a lamp so they could speak in her room, she let him in and closed the balcony doors behind him.

"So what do we need to talk about?" She asked, sitting next to him on her bed.

"I should have told you earlier. I should have. But... I couldn't let you go. I'm sorry I'm-"

In the light Crystal could see the tears clearly rolling down his cheeks, she reached up to wipe them away, but Gold took her hand and held it.

"What is it?" She whispered.

"I'm not the Prince."

* * *

Crystal froze. There it was. It all made sense, why he didn't act like a prince, why his best friend was Silver, why he didn't know very much about the Highlands, and why he avoided questions about his family. She should have known, it was all there so blatantly obviously there. But she didn't want to believe it. She didn't want to believe that the boy she loved lied to her all this time.

"Just give me a minute to explain!" Gold begged. "My name is Gold, Gold Hibiki. I grew up in southern Johto with my parents as nobles. My uncle was a marquee in Sinnoh, but he didn't have any children, so when he died a couple years ago my dad was next in line. We moved there, but I took some time to myself to travel. I was on my way to Johto with Silver, after visiting my parents in Sinnoh and having them tell me that they want me to be married, when I came across a toppled carriage. I read a message and came here in order to tell everyone that Prince Ethan had been killed, but apparently I resemble him a lot and everyone thought I was him even when I told them I wasn't. By the next morning Silver said if I tried to say anything from then on, it would be considered treason, so I just pretended to be the prince. I wanted you to call off the wedding so that someone else could tell the King that the Prince was assassinated on his way back home... but then you happened."

Gold stopped talking and let Crystal process it all.

They sat there for a while, not quite as long as Gold expect, but long enough to make him squirm and fidget with his sleeve.

"I should hit you." Gold's head shot up to look at Crystal when she started speaking, but was met with her ear as she looked out the window.

"I should throw you into the dungeon for wasting my time because my people are about to have a war and you're here distracting me from forming a real alliance, but..." Crystal shuddered, tears in her eyes starting to fall as she embraced the idiot.

"But all I can think about is how the King will be here tomorrow and he'll know you aren't his son and you'll be executed and I'll never see you again!" She sobbed, holding onto him tightly like he was already gone. Gold soothed her, running his hand up and down her back, kissing her tear stained cheeks, and whispering lies about how it would all be ok.

She was a fool, an idiot! She fell in love with him with the ridiculous notion that he loved her back and they would get married and be together. It was all her fault! She believed all those lies without thinking, she believed that he would be the knight in shining armor that would sweep her off her feet, save her from the boring, monotonous lifestyle she was doomed to live.

"What are you going to do?" Crystal croaked, barely managing to form words through all her emotions. "I can't pardon something like this..."

"I'm... I'm leaving. Tonight there will be a fire, but don't worry, we've planned out everything, no one should be hurt. I'm going to leave and we'll replace my body with the Prince's so he can have a proper burial. It'll be easy to blame on the Unovians because they did kill prince." Gold explained.

"But where will you go?

"Back to my family in Sinnoh. Silver will stay for a while to tie up any loose ends, so you can hang out with him for a bit."

"I'll never see you again..." Crystal whimpered. "I'm not ready to say goodbye..."

"I know. I'm not either."

Crystal looked at him, desperately staring into his golden eyes. She need him to say why, why he didn't want to leave her...

"I love you, Crystal."

He loved her. _He loved her._ It was probably obvious to an outside observer, but he loved her. Crystal pressed her lips against his, not caring about him kissing other girls or if she was horribly at it, because he loved her. And when he pulled back, slowly, she whispered her response into his ears.

"I love you too."

Gold pulled her closer and kissed her again. One after another, Crystal never wanted her lips to be alone again, she wanted to kiss him until she was out out breath and keep kissing him. She didn't want to breath, she just wanted him.

 _She loved him._

 _And he loved her._

Gold started to stand up and Crystal blinked, forgetting reality, she had no idea why he would leave her like that. Remembrance was bitter and cold, like her body without him holding her.

"I should go."

"Wait!" Crystal pleaded. "Please, I'm not sure how I'll carry on, without you. So just... please stay. I can't have my last memory of you being you leaving me."

Gold smiled, it was a sad smile, nothing like his normal one. "I guess I have some more time, but isn't it rather scandalous? For you, a princess, to ask me, a lier, to stay the night."

"You act as though a girl has never asked you to stay the night before." Crystal responded to his half-hearted flirting.

Gold's smile became a bit more genuine with her words. "Well of course I've been invited, but I've never accepted. I'm a man of honor."

"Really?"

"I'm done lying. From now on, everything I saw is the absolute truth."

Crystal stood up and dragged him back to the bed. "Then stay. At least until I'm asleep so I won't have to see you leave."

Gold responded by kissing her, slowly but with more passion than before.

"Your wish is my command, Princess. I would you'd do anything for you." Gold whispered, his breath against her ear made her skin tingle.

 _"I love you."_

Crystalheld onto him with one hand as they kissed, the other one clutching her locket, the one she had worn from the day she first met Gold. The one which was supposed to have all the things she cared about it, all the things she loved: _family, friends, people, kingdom._

The locket which now only had one name in it:

 _Gold._


	14. Chapter 14

Crystal was woken up by panicked maids, rushing her out of the castle. She found Silver in the crowd and stood by him as they saw the last sparks be extinguished. She cried into his shoulder. Over the next couple days, Silver went through at least 20 shirts as Crystal continued to cry.

Gold's funeral was impossible. Even though it wasn't his body, to Crystal it was the same, Gold may be safe an alive, but she could never see him gain. She felt guilty, but Crystal almost wished he had died, because then she would at least have some closure.

The king of the Highlands immediately declared war on Unova for killing his son and pledged allegiance to Johto, even without the wedding. Crystal was almost hopeful that she wouldn't have to marry someone else, but her father insisted she marry the other prince, since Crystal need to be married and the preparations were already made.

The guests left and Yellow told Crystal that she knew what was going on and she'd watch out for Gold if he came by.

The wedding was set to happen in a month, the same amount of time she had to get to know Gold. But this wasn't anything like her experience with Gold. She spent most of her time in her room, mourning.

Her new fiancé, Arvis, was nothing like Gold, he was cold and his hair was blond, like his mother's, he didn't care much about tradition, but not in the way Gold did, he would skip church or parties to go study. Crystal should be glad to be glad, this was the type of man she had wanted to marry, studious and ready to lead, not someone she would fall in love with. But when she saw him, her heart sank in a way it never had before. Now that she had know what love felt like, she wasn't ready to give it up.

The wedding was going to be much smaller than the first one. None of the guests from far off could make it, and Crystal was left alone with Silver as her only friend to comfort her on her big day.

Crystal stood in front of the mirror, studying herself in her wedding gown.

"How do I look?" She asked to the redhead standing behind her.

"Beautiful," he responded.

It was incredibly idiotic, because at this point she was always crying, but Gold had said she was beautiful on the night he left and hearing those words made her eyes sting.

She bit the inside of her lip. Crystal had tried to refrain from droning on about Gold, she didn't want to look pathetic, but there were still questioned that tugged on her brain.

"Every time that you and Gold weren't at the castle, or I couldn't find you, you were planning his escape. Right?" She asked, her voice came out calmer than expected.

"Sometimes it was just Gold running off on his own-"

"But that one time!" Crystal turned abruptly. "When we went and saw the orphanage?"

Silver sighed and closed his eyes. "Gold was talking to people in the castle, bribing them. We couldn't risk you looking for him."

Her heart sank. Was Silver turkey her friend? Or was he just watching over her for Gold?

"But none of that changes anything that you already know," Silver reminded her.

She nodded solemnly. "I know. We're still friends, Gold still loved me, and he's still gone."

Silver didn't respond, he wasn't sure how to. It was too depressing, too real.

"I wish Gold could see me in this..." she sighed, biting back tears. Silver wrapped an arm around her, comforting her silently. "Are you still in touch with him?"

Silver didn't respond right away, he stepped back from her and leaned against the wall. Crystal spoke up again, prompting him to answer.

"You have to be, Gold said you would meet up with him eventually and after all, you are his best friend. He trusts you."

He smiled slightly but Crystal could see more pity than actual enjoyment in his face.

"I'm afraid 'Gold's Best Friend' is a title you should share. You're in as deep as I am, if not worse."

Crystal sighed, letting the corners of her mouth pull up. Teasing Gold reminded her of different times, better times.

"Come on, you two have been together much longer than we have. And I'm more of-"

"The love of his life?" Silver rolled his eyes. "You two like to talk and spend time with each other, and you love each other, albeit a different type of love than we have, romantic love is built on the same foundation as platonic love."

This time Crystal couldn't help but smile, a real smile. Hearing it from Silver, that Gold loved her, must mean he told him, Gold was proud enough to tell people he was in love with her.

There was a pause and Silver readjusted his weight on his feet, standing straighter and not leaning against a wall. His face fell slightly and she could tell he was going to say something more serious, less amusing.

"Don't, Crystal," he whispered, quiet. But in the silent room she heard him loud and clear.

"Don't what?" She snapped back.

Silver sighed sadly. "I understand how you feel, but if you contact him he'll coming rushing back here, despite the consequences."

"But we could be pen pals," Crystal pleaded. "He'll listen to me and he won't come back-"

"Not when he hears about the baby."

Crystal took a step back, shocked, he hands subconsciously rushing to her abdomen. But she saw Silver's face, sad and sympathetic, so she took a deep breath and composed herself.

"How did you know?" She murmured.

Silver shrugged. "I'm observant. I heard you getting sick in the bathroom and put two and two together."

Crystal looked away from him. "... Gold deserves to know."

"Telling him would sentence him to death."

"I know... I'm being selfish and dumb. I'm sorry." She guiltily turned from him, looking in the mirror instead even though she used to to continue to look at his face rather than herself.

"It's not your fault, you're just sad. You haven't done anything wrong yet."

"Besides getting pregnant with an illegitimate child. I'm an educated woman, I knew that it was probable... but I did it anyway. And now Gold will have to live his life never knowing that he has a child." Tears rolled down her cheeks, Gold would such an amazing father, but if something goes wrong now its entirely her fault. His child was entirely her responsibility.

Silver forced a smile and tried to brighten the mood a bit. "Hey, at least if the baby is born, you don't have any other children, and something tragic happens to you, your husband, and your parents, Gold would technically be the next king until he child is old enough to rule."

Crystal laughed softly through her tears. "Good to know there is a way for them to meet each other without Gold being arrested."

Silver hugged her, she leaned her head on his shoulder and he whispered, "you're going to be ok."

She nodded against him. Silver was right, time would pass, war would come and go, her children would grow older and she'd become queen. Crystal would never forget Gold, but eventually... _she would be ok._

* * *

It was a boy, passable as Arvis' son and that's really all Crystal needed. People were a bit shocked when the baby came 'early' yet was completely healthy, but no one really questioned her about it.

Thinking of a name was hard, she could always name him after Gold, or the prince she was supposed to marry, but she didn't want to associate her son with that sadness. Traditional was probably best, naming him after his father, or grandfather, or even great-grandfather. But Crystal couldn't bring herself to do it, this was Gold's son, there should be some membrane of him in his name. She found some reason to deny all of Arvis' suggestions, she really didn't want him to name Gold's son.

At night she would sit with her son, holding him tight and looking at the stars, Crystal wondered where Gold was. The constellation in the sky was Gemini, the twins, when she was supposed to marry Gold it was Virgo, she remembered telling Gold about them.

Looking down at him, he did remind her of Gold. He looked so much like him, except the eyes, he had her eyes. "Sparkling gemstones. Crystals to match the ones made by suicune," Gold had told her, on a day he thought flattery would get him out of trouble for getting sauce on her dress.

She thought about a name that would match the stars, to remind her that Gold was still out there. But most were named after animals and she refused to name her son after a bear.

Perhaps a name that matched Gold's, like bronze or copper. But neither of those were names.

When she held him at night and he woke up and smiled at her, Crystal could see the reflection of the stars in his big, innocent eyes. Maybe there was a name she could take from the stars, and from Gold.

Gem.

Like gemini, the stars she saw in his gemstone eyes.


	15. Epilogue

Crystal walked through the garden, not bothering to pick up the hem of her skirt when it brushed against the dirt. Staining the ends of her dresses slightly amused her, made her feel free. She walked past the chrysanthemums and instead picked up one of the baby blue eyes, twirling the small flower in between her fingers and tucking it into her hair as she walked on.

Johto had won the war fairly easily, with the help of Kanto even though they are not a militant Kingdom, and the Highlands. It dragged on for half a year, but Crystal was blessed that the war was never fought on Johtean ground. But the Unovian leaders were overpowered, they betrayed their King for their own agenda and once the King fled, half the groups lost all will to fight and surrendered. After that it was simple.

It was only about a year ago when her parents passed away, though. They both fell I'll at the same time and Crystal suspected fowl play at first. But they hadn't been poisoned, it was just an untimely visitor who carried a disease they were weak to.

It still felt awkward to wear her mother's crown and call herself queen, because she still didn't feel like one. Crystal would escape into the city, give to the poor, and most importantly, help out at the new orphanage she established. The queen was bound by less rules than a princess, so as long as she brought her new guard Emerald along and she wasn't doing anything un-noble, it was fine. But it still felt childish, as if she was dreaming of creating a perfect kingdom where everyone was happy, even though she only really visited one city.

Wandering towards the front gates, Crystal thought about greeting the guards stationed there. They weren't supposed to have actual conversation while on duty, but being the Queen, Crystal lifted that rule for her because she enjoyed talking to "the help" as other noble's would refer to them.

When she approached, there was already people talking. Crystal was confused, they weren't expecting guests, so who was at the gate?

"I'm sorry sir, but we can't just let anyone in, especially to meet with the Queen." She heard a guard say. Crystal was about to step in and say that she was right there and could meet with whoever was at the gate, when someone else spoke.

"Please just trust me, I might not be 'invited' but the Queen-"

Crystal ran, not even looking at the ground in front of her. She pushed a guard to the side because _she recognized that voice._

The man's face wasn't familiar, it was changed. But she'd recognize those golden eyes anywhere.

The man smirked and spoke first. "So I hear you're a Queen now, Princess."

"Gold!" Crystal cried out, lunging toward him and nearly knocking him over with her embrace.

"Your highness! I'm sorry, um- you can go in!" A guard sputtered.

Crystal turned and thanked him with misty eyes, leading Gold back into the garden. She waited until they were both seated on the bench, the bench they had sat on so many times before, and she started sobbing into his shoulder.

Many, emotional, tearful moments later, Crystal was able to look at him and speak.

"What happened?" She asked softly, running a hand over his face.

His beautiful face, which was now scarred for eternity. She had noticed it right away, and was almost afraid of the answer, because a scar like that might have a dark history. It ran from his forehead to his jawline, running through the corner of his eye and lips on the left side of his face. It distorted his features, making his whole face a bit more tilted towards the right, and made him almost look like an entirely new person.

Gold laughed, she missed his laugh so much. "Well, remember how I said those fencing lessons would pay off when I had to fight for your honor?"

"What?" Crystal gasped.

"I'm just kidding... I um- well I kinda did it to myself..." Gold chuckled awkwardly, looking away from her.

"What?!"

Gold sighed. "It was about few years ago and I was feeling really depressed, and I missed you. So some part of my mind thought if I disfigured myself enough I could come back here with no one knowing who I was. I only did this cut when I realized that you probably wouldn't want to be with me like that..."

"You know I don't care what you look like," Crystal interjected. Cupped his cheeks in her hands, forcing him to look at her.

Gold covered her hand with his own, closing his eyes regretfully. "... But you care what I act like, and and you deserve better than someone who takes a carving knife to their face because they feel a little down."

"Are you kidding?" Crystal snapped, jolting Gold's eyes open. "You did something, you loved me enough to cause yourself physical pain. Would I have wanted you to do it? No. But I might not be the best example, I did nothing to try and get you back..."

"You waited. You stayed alive and that's enough for me," Gold responded. He smiled at her and blinked back tears. "It has been a while, hasn't it? Like 6 years?" Gold tried to change the subject.

"5 years and nine months, almost to the day, actually. So pretty much six years," Crystal corrected.

Gold blinked. "Uh, wow. You kept count?"

Crystal blushed, embarrassed. "While I did at first, I gave up after about a year or two. Today I had a bit of a reminder..."

"What kind of reminder?"

Crystal smiled and stood up, guiding Gold by the hand. She lead him to another corner of the garden, where they could see a young boy with black hair was using a stick to write the number 5 in the dirt.

Gold's jaw dropped.

"Gem there kept going on and on about turning 5 today," Crystal explained, carefully watching Gold's expression.

"Is he... mine?" Gold looked to her, stunned.

Crystal nodded, trying to find disappointment, regret, or even anger in Gold's face. "I wanted to tell you, but Silver said if I contacted you at all you'd come running back and be arrested. So I understand if you'd rather have him grow up in your family instead of as a prince..." she said the last part quietly, she didn't want to lose her son, but he deserved a real family.

"My family?" Gold echoed. "Like me and my parents?"

"Like you, your wife, and children..." Crystal elaborated.

"My what?"

Crystal stopped, frozen looking at his confused face.

"I-it's been six years, I thought you would have fallen in love and-"

"I am in love! With you!"

"But you knew I was married, why didn't you move on?"

Gold paused, hurt. "I knew you got married but I guess... did you move on?" He asked hesitantly.

"Of course not!" Crystal exclaimed, "I was only married because I had to be!"

Gold beamed. "So we can be together, right? You still love me and I still love you and-"

Crystal stopped him. "That doesn't change the fact that I am in fact, married." Gold's face fell with Crystal's heart. "A Queen shouldn't be involved with other men."

"Like your husband isn't," Gold scoffed.

"His affairs don't matter to me, he can be happy-"

"But you can't?"

"I'm a Queen! Yes, I wouldn't be divorced over this, and if I was, he doesn't carry Royal blood so I would be the soul ruler. But a queen is a symbol of obedience, love, and purity. Being with you would go against all of that."

Gold looked into her eyes desperately. "Look, if you're uncomfortable with being involved with me, that's fine. But please," Gold pleaded, "let me have a job here, allow me to just spend some time with you and be your friend again. I'll stay away from Gem if you want-"

"No! I want Gem to know you, his real father. I want that so badly, and I want to be with you so bad it makes my heart ache- but..."

"But?"

"But I've become friendly with most of the staff, no one will tattle if they see you sneaking into my chambers every now and them," Crystal decided, smiling at him, the man she loved.

"Are you sure you're so ready to throw away your principles for me?" Gold smirked, her words gave him a confidence like no other.

"Well I've done it before. And after all this time, I still love you," she admitted. Gold opened his mouth to respond, but Crystal placed hers over it instead, kissing him like she had wanted to do for so many years.

"I love you too," Gold finally said when they broke apart.


End file.
